The Great Game in Somalia

bismillah
assalamu ala man itaba3al huddaa

Abu Ismael has posted a very interesting article about Somalia in his blog. Somalia really shows a miniature version of what is really happening in the whole world. The Western countries in reality do not get along, afterall, each one is after his own benefit. The colonial wars are still being fought and England, France, US, Russia and other Western countries are still fighting each other to gain more control over resources and strategic positions. All this is under the table, ontop of which they claim the war is against terrorists and Islamists.

wassalam

Ya Khilafah Ya Shahadah

Revolution without bullets or ballots
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - From the shores of the Caspian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, there are violent reactionaries in the Muslim world who will kill and get killed, but beyond these fanatics there exists a real hardcore silently swaying the hearts and minds of many in the Muslim world.

Their religion is not obvious from their demeanor or the cut of their clothes, yet it is embedded in the very core of their hearts, and is the driving force behind all their actions.

They are an overwhelming emerging force, and even though they have been widely banned, they don't believe in retaliation. They have made a hub in Pakistan, where they outnumber many large religious parties, yet they remain difficult to pinpoint as they are political, but have been forced underground. They are the largest single movement in the Islamic world, the Liberation Party - Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT).

In in the mid-1990s, a large conference was held in London, where the topic was the revival of a caliphate in the Muslim world for the "implementation of pure Islamic doctrine", as is the goal of the HT. The conference was attended by delegates from around the world, and a key question was to determine an ideal place for the Islamic revolution. Many agreed on Pakistan, a land of valiant Muslim tribes that have traditionally responded enthusiastically to Islamic issues. And strategically, the country is well situated to embrace the Asian sub-continent and Central Asia - where initially the caliphate will be created.

Subsequently, hundreds of HT members, British but of Pakistani origin, many of them students at the London School of Economics and other centers of excellence, packed their bags and departed for Pakistan. By 2000, the HT had established itself in all urban centers of the country, but within three years it was banned. All police stations were given strict instructions to round up any person who claimed an association with the HT.

Hundreds of HT members were rounded up, and may reports of torture emerged. Of those produced in court, the only charges that were made to stick were those related to being a member of the HT.

This correspondent has spoken to senior Pakistani officials on the reason for the HT being banned, but none of them appears to have a clue - especially as the HT does not espouse violence or militancy.

HT members have even been encouraged by the authorities to change the name of the organization, as most other banned outfits do so that they can carry on with their activities, but the HT has refused to do so.

Pakistan, especially as a leading ally in the US "war on terror", has been urged by international intelligence agencies to continue cracking down on the HT. President General Pervez Musharraf has visited the United Kingdom and publicly advised parents to beware of the HT and keep their children away from its influence.

Read the rest of the article here.

Those Who Believe and those Who Don't

bismillah
assalamu 3ala man itaba3al hudaa

Recently, several times I have been forced into positions where people are questioning my relationship (or the lack of) with non-Muslims. So in this post, inshallah I will try and clear my position on the matter once and for all.

First of all, we are all humans and all humans are the children of Adam and Adam was made of clay. These are basic Islamic teachings and I will in no way go against it inshallah. But do I see all humans as equals? No. Physically we are all the same more or less, there is no division in that matter. To judge our differences through our physical appearances is just foolish. The question on equality should always be directed towards the mentality. For those who claim we should in no way divide people at all, I ask, do you see Osama bin Laden as an equal to Gandhi? Bush as an equal to a prophet of Allah (wasstaghfurullah)? Certainly not, mentally we are all different and dividing humans within our thought will exist whether we like it or not. Do we divide people by "the good" and "the bad"? In such case who determines what is good and what is bad? Good and bad is subjective as to who's eyes you are looking from. To some bin Laden is a hero, to some Hitler is a hero, I can safely say that not everyone agrees. Are they all human? Certainly they are, but that does not make everyone equal. It is our thought which divides us, our mentality. This is not restricted to me, but to everyone whether they claim it or not. The very fact that we are human means we have an opinion and the very fact that we have an opinion creates differences and through those differences we are indeed dividing people in our minds.

So the issue of dividing people is neither strange nor new nor isn't even something to frown upon really. The more important question is; on what basis would you divide people? Generally everyone divides people on "good" and "bad" and everyone has his own definition on what is good and what is bad. Nationalists divide people based on nationalities. Racists divide people based on race. Communists divide people based on class. I am a Muslim and I don't see any sense in dividing people by where they were born, or what color skin they have or how wealthy they are. If we are going to divide people, I see more sense dividing them based on their level of thought. As a Muslim I try my best to base my way of thinking on what Allah and his prophet (pbuh) said.

The prophet (pbuh) said: "Surely, human beings from the time of Adam up to now are the same as the teeth of a comb are, and there is no superiority for the Arab over non-Arab or for the red race over the black race except for piety."

Allah says in surat al Hujraat verse 13;
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

The above verse says that Allah created humans into nations and tribes so that we get to know one another and the best of us are the most pious. Therefore, as a Muslim, I will base my division on what Allah and his prophet (pbuh) said, piety.

However, what does that mean to me? Am I going to go around with a stick beating non-Muslims? The above verse clearly says that that is not what Allah wants us to do, he wants us to know one another and not to fight. If a non-Muslim wants to talk about football, a movie, or ask for advice or an honest question, I am more than happy to assist. However, entering into political or religious discussion is a different story.

First of all politics. It's great the sympathy alot of people in the West show towards the Palestinians and Iraqis. However I wish to put my Muslim brothers and sisters attention, that this sympathy was always given towards the refugees, the people who lost their homes, children, widows, etc. It is quite rare to see sympathy towards the resistance, be that in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechnya or Afghanistan. Leave that as it may, although it is nice to have that sympathy, let us be certain that this will not solve any of our problems. I have discussed what our problem is and my blog clearly shows the solution.

As for religion, no Muslim can deny that Islam was sent to the whole of mankind and thus it is an obligation upon the Muslims to bring Islam to the non-Muslims. However there is a point that should be learned first. Although indeed preaching to non-Muslims is an obligation, and I would like to stress the point that I have never said otherwise, it must be noted that there are also other obligations on the Muslims. As much as it is wrong not to preach Islam, it is also wrong to ignore all your other obligations. Something alot of Muslims tend to forget. I would like to also talk about prioritizing.

In Islam, when a man dies he is to be buried as soon as possible (after the Islamic rites are done ofcourse). However, when the prophet (pbuh) died, there are three different stories as to when he was buried. Some say he was buried the next day, others (and most reliable sources say) he was buried after two days and others say he was not buried for three days. Is it an obligation to bury the dead? As far as my understanding (and correct me if I was wrong) it certainly is. The reason why the prophet (pbuh) was not buried immediately was due to one fact and one fact only, there were more important issues the sahabaa were concerned with. The issue of who is to succeed the prophet (pbuh), who is to lead the Muslims after his death. It's an issue of prioritizing.

We agree that as an ummah, we have a major problem and that it can only be solved by the Muslims . All what I am saying is that when you are sitting there discussing for hours with a non-Muslim on why Islam is right, you could be sitting discussing with a Muslim on why he should be working to solve our problems. Which is more important? And mind you, that if the Caliphate is re-established it will bring to Islam more people within a year than you could possibly bring within ten years.

wassalam

The Solution

bismillah

I have written another article that is to follow The Problem article. This one is, The Solution.

The Problem

bismillah
I have been invited to become a member in the Muslim Unity blog and have posted my second post over there which I think is worth giving a mention here.

wassalam

Edit: I made changes to the post and decided to post it here;

The Problem

So we want to know what is the solution to our problems as the ummah of Muhammad (pbuh). First, we should know what our problems are and then from that we need to know what their source is. Fix that source and you solve our problems.

We all know that we have many problems, we have the problem of starvation within our community, the problem of unemployment, the problem of illiteracy, etc. Different people would priorities our problems differently. For example, I have spoken to people who believed that our most important problem is that we have no Islamic education. I have spoken to people who believed that our most important problem is that we are not united. I have spoken to people who believed that our most important problem is poverty. Personally, I don't believe that any of these are true, but I will not argue about it because it doesn't matter at all. As I said before, we have alot of problems and to solve them we will have to fix the source, fix that source and you solve your most important problem and all others as well. Think of a plant that grew in your garden and you want to get rid of. If you cut its branches or even its stem, it might disappear or remain out of sight for a while, but it will indeed return as long as the roots are still intact. Cut a branch off, it will grow back again. Until you remove the plant from the roots, you have not solved anything truly.

More realistically, I will use the well known group; the Muslim Brotherhood, or the Ikhwaan al Muslimeen. The Ikhwaan are well known for establishing schools, hospitals, charity organizations and trying to take care of the Muslim community. This is all good, but does it solve anything? If you feed a man today, he will get hungry tomorrow. Cure his illness, he will come back tomorrow with another. Teach him Islam, you still have more than a billion Muslims in the world alot of who don't even live in Muslim countries. The question we should ask ourselves before we start doing anything is, 'why?' Why is it that the Muslims of Niger are starving when there are markets selling food right there in their country itself? Why is it that today the Nile isn't producing any food when during the Islamic caliphate, Egypt was called the bread-basket because it produced enough food to feed the whole of North Africa? Why is it that our children require charity organization for them to learn their own deen, their Islamic aqeedah, the most important thing they could possibly learn? Well to answer these questions, let us look at another scenario. Imagine now a factory with a manager. This manager is lazy and completely useless. No, not only is he useless, he is also a burden on the company as he steals from its profits and damages its machinery. So you, the owner of this factory (if you had the mentality of the Ikhwaan) decide that you cannot remain like this forever, so what you do is that YOU yourself begin doing the manager's job while keeping that very incompetent manager in his office. You clean, you fix, you make the transactions, you make the schedules and attend meetings, you do absolutely everything. The manager breaks something from here, you fix it from there, he steals from here, you try and work harder to make more profit to cover what he stole. Does it make sense? No. Is it what's happening? Indeed it is.

A government is the body that has the ability and the authority to govern the people and controls the public and foreign policy of the state as a whole. So if people are not being educated, you don't start building schools, you go account the manager who should be educating the people, the government. If people are starving in a land known to be rich, then the problem is with distribution of food and resources or the use of the lands, both of which are in the hands of the government. Whatever the problem you think that is the most vital to our ummah, the answer will always lead to one and one source only. The government. It is the responsible body that represents and whose duty is to protect and promote the people it is governing. The prophet (pbuh) said that we are all shepherds responsible of our cattle. The ruling regime, likewise, is a shepherd responsible for its people. Any problem the people face as a WHOLE majority, then the source will most likely be straight from the party responsible of the people; the government.

Another way to look at it is to ask yourself, "what if?" What if the governments in the Muslim world were abiding by the Shariah and ruled as Allah would want them to rule. Would we still have the same problems we are facing today? I am not saying that magically everything will be solved overnight if the right system replaces today's corrupt ones, everything requires work and patience and Islam is no exception. Allah will neither cure our problems while we sleep nor will working for one aspect of Islam (prayer and other private worships) achieve everything (political hegemony of the deen) without its relative work.

It is the governments duty to govern the people. It is the sole purpose of the government to do so and if it is not doing so then it has failed. In such a case, the only option is to fire it and employ another one that can achieve something.

"Onward Christian Soldier"

bismillah

Sexually Harassed Soldier is Arrested After Refusing to Redeploy to Iraq.

If you came to me a couple of years ago with this story, I would felt really sad for Suzanne Swift. Today, I honestly lost all symaphy for Western soldiers. Try as I might, I cannot force myself to pitty them anymore. What really saddens me is that, if this is how they treat their own soldiers, then can you imagine how they're treating the Iraqis? It burns me especially when I think of what they could be doing to the Iraqi women.

Allah willed that picture of Abu Ghuraib should leak out, but how do we know that if it didn't leak out the US government (which certainly did know about it before the pictures came out) would have taken measures to stop what's going on there? How do we know that this is not happening in other jails in Iraq? How do we know that this is not happening in Guantanamo or Afganistan? Again and again and again we're seeing proofs after proofs at how immoral the Western armies are, the very armies in control of Iraq and Afganistan.

What makes me glad, however, is that such an army will never be able to last. Such a regime will never last. Such a system will never last. Alhamdullilah for Islam, indeed it was sent as a mercy to mankind.

Taqiuddin al-Nabhani

Background

His full name is Sheikh Muhammad Taqiuddin bin (son of) Ibrahim, bin (son of) Mustafah, bin (son of) Ismail, bin (son of) Yusuf al-Nabhani. He belonged to the ancient Arab tribe of Bani Nabhan, from North Palestine. He was born in the village of Ijzim, within the district of Haifa, in 1909. While his father was also a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence, and accordingly worked as a lecturer in Islamic Law or Shariah, his mother mastered the Islamic sciences and was also an Islamic scholar. She had been taught by her father, the famous Ottoman poet, Islamic scholar, and Islamic judge Sheikh Yusuf an-Nabhani, who was appointed as judge at different Shariah courts in Jenin, Constantinople, Mosul, Latakia, Jerusalem and Beirut. The Islamic surroundings in which Taqiuddin grew up in, contributed to the consolidation of his personality, so he was able to memorise wholly & rehearse the entire Qur'an by heart at 12 years of age. Through his grand-father, he was introduced into the then relatively sound world of politics of the Ottoman Khilafah. His grandfather Sheikh Yusuf an-Nabhani was known to have strong ties with high ranking state personalities in Istanbul, Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon.

Education

The sagacity and intelligence he was able to show during Islamic study circles held by his grandfather, convinced the latter, that the exposed capacity should be promoted by all means. Instead of accomplishing his secondary Shariah legal education in Haifa, al-Nabhani headed for Cairo, where in 1928 he boldly enrolled at both the al-Azhar University and the Dar-ul-Ulum college of Cairo at the same time. He graduated from both, according to the traditional education curriculum, in 1932, obtaining the Universal Shariah Diploma, with excellent records. At al-Azhar he attended different extra-curricula circles, held by famous scholars such as Sheikh al-Akhdar Hussein, where he showed capacity during debates and discussions.

Career

On his return to Palestine he worked as a teacher from 1932 to 1938, but because he abhorred the corruption in this field at that time, he shifted to the judiciary. In his eyes, education and all the hereto related curricula were laid down by Western colonialist nations, and were therefore corrupt. Judiciary, he felt was a safer haven, as it rested in its entirety on Islamic jurisprudence and the Ottoman Islamic laws were still applied. He applied to the high court in Palestine, which, consequently appointed him in different judicial areas in Bisan, Tiberias and later Haifa. He also held the position of a legal Assessor from 1940 to 1945. From this date until the Jews overran Palestine in 1948 he held a very high position at the court of Haifa. The exodus from Palestine which followed, took him to Syria, nevertheless, a short while later he was summoned back to Jerusalem at the time not occupied by Israel, where he was appointed as Shariah judge or Qadi in the Court of Appeal, where he remained until 1951. He stepped down in 1951 and went to Amman, where he held numerous lecturer posts at the faculty of Islamic Sciences.

Thought

Philosophy and theology

Nabhani in his books 'Thought' and 'System of Islam' placed heavy emphasis on discussing modes and models of the psychology behind human thought, and concepts. He defined the thought process, and how it reaches the status of conviction or concepts. He discussed the internal working of thoughts, convictions, and concepts in shaping the Nafs or emotions and sentiments. Delving into the internal workings of how people reach conclusions & the psychology behind the process derives itself from Taqiuddin al-Nabhani's roots in non-Ascetic legalistic Sufism from his first teacher and maternal grandfather Yusuf al-Nabhani.

Al-Nabhani's definitions of thought have been used in the study of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and information processing research discussed in the Addison-Wesley published book "Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine (Systems Programming Series)" and used in London South Bank University's information systems department.

After many philosophical discussions on the nature of thoughts and emotions, Nabhani concludes that the only way to bring about change is via discussion, refutation, and revival of the relevant thoughts and emotions. It is from this philosophical basis that he argued that force does not work to change peoples' ideas. He also argued that a decline in the Muslims' thought, emotions and concepts led to their decline & the eventual destruction of the Khilafah. He believed the first major step towards decline in the Muslims was confusion about, and dealing with new foreign ideas, mainly Greek, persian & eastern philosophy. He argued the Islamic World didn't know how to tackle & contextualise these ideas because they became insular, and complacent of preserving & keeping relevant their own Islamic thoughts or philosophy to a world in flux. The heavy emphasis on pinpointing, defining and changing peoples thoughts, convictions, or emotions, via stronger thoughts, diagnosis, and refutation of the process an individual uses to reach their particular 'incorrect' view, is the method of Hizb ut-Tahrir's argumentation on almost every issue.

Faith vs. rational belief

Nabhani claimed Islam is founded on rational belief not blind faith, being very similar to Ghazali's Kalam Argument. Although both Nabhani and Ghazali argued that after belief (Aqeeda) is established; divine laws in the Quran are beyond question due to the 'mind' of god being beyond human comprehension. Nabhani loosely affirmed rationalism (not that of the mutazilah) but argued that it can establish belief in a God just like Ghazali and Ghazali's teacher al-Juwayni in his book [4], contrary to the common western notion of rationalism. He tried to outline materialist arguments and axioms to prove that one unlimited creator of the universe, god (Allah in Arabic) can be proven by rational deduction. He believed that the dependancy of, and limited physical nature of every tangible thing within human perception point ultimately to an unlimited creater that is beyond need and dependancy, an Absolute Infinite.

Politics

The political activities of Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani started very early. Before establishing Hizb ut-Tahrir he had no organised political activity, save for the period in his teens and twenties he had spent with the famous mujahid Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, whom he helped lay down plans for the well known revolutionary upheavals against British colonial rule, and against plans to set up the state of Israel for Jews. He also mixed with the Muslim Brotherhood, and exchanged views with Sayyid Qutb. Many of his early al-Azhar colleagues later bore witness to his tireless activity in attending political and Islamic study circles. They also praised his contribution to numerous political discussions during which he did not abstain from criticising the internal circumstances, which he believed had led to the political and intellectual downfall of both the Muslims and the Islamic Caliphate. In addition, he used to urge the Ulema at al-Azhar to give up the adopted lassitude vis-à-vis the Ummah and her affairs and appealed to them to seek the best way for revival.

On his return to Palestine, he became more and more aware of the Westernisation of the Islamic Ummah by colonial powers such as Britain and France. The loss of Palestine in 1948 together with the failure of a coup attempt by Abdullah al-Tall in Jordan to which al-Nabhani had been party convinced him that only a structured and deep intellectual work could bring the nation back to its glory and strength. Consequently he began preparations relating to the Party structure, literature and the like, as early as 1949 while he was still a judge at al-Quds. In his first written work, which appeared in January 1950 under the title Inqadh Filastin (Saving Palestine), he showed how deeply rooted Islam had been in Palestine since the seventh century. He also analysed the main cause for the set backs which had befallen the Arabs which, as he said, was due to nothing but the fact that the Ummah had resigned and submitted itself to the greedy colonial powers. In August 1950 he sent a long letter, published later as a book entitled Risalat al-Arab "The Message of the Arabs", to the members of the Culture Summit of the Arab League in Alexandria, Egypt. In his exposition of the matter, he stressed upon the point that the true and real message of the Arabs is Islam, on whose basis alone the intellectual, and hence, political revival of the Ummah could be achieved. As no reaction was forthcoming by the Summit members to this letter, Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani was now convinced, more than at any time before, that establishing a political party was essential.

Encyclopedia quote

In the "Encyclopedia Of The Palestinians" by Michael. R. Fischbach, it says,

Born in Izjim, a village south of HAIFA, Taqyy al-Din al-Nabhani studied at al-Azhar University and Dar al-Uum in Egypt, after which he returned to Palestine and held administrative positions in the Islamic court system in Haifa, Hebron! Jaffa, and Jerusalem. Called by the title al-Shaykh, a religious scholar, he was later appointed as a judge in the Islamic courts of Baysan, Hebron, Ramla, and Lydda before fleeing Palestine for Beirut in 1948. Nabhani soon returned to the WEST BANK, where he served as an Islamic court judge in Jerusalem and a teacher in the Islamic College in Amman. He had joined the Muslim Brotherhood while in Egypt and was active in the movement on returning to Palestine. He also maintained ties with the Palestinian leader AL-HAJJ AMIN AL-HUSAYNI during the PALESTINE MANDATE. During the period of Jordanian rule in the West Bank, however, Nabhani grew critical of the Brotherhood's close links with the Jordanian regime because of its pro-Western leanings. In November 1952, Nabhani broke with the Brotherhood and established the Liberation Party in Jerusalem. Nabhani left Palestine for Syria in 1953 and moved to Lebanon in 1959. He died and was buried in Beirut in 1979.

Hizb ut-Tahrir

While employed at the Ibrahimiyya School al-Nabhani contacted numerous individuals and personalities such as his colleagues As'ad and Rajab Bayyud Tamimi and Abdul Qadeem Zallum and other about the formation of a political party.

By the end of 1952, and early 1953, the whole matter was put into practice and Hizb ut-Tahrir was established in al-Quds Jerusalem. Taqiuddin an-Nabhani together with Dawud Hamdan, Ghanim Abduh, Munir Shuqayr and Dr. Adil al-Nablusi in accordance with the until then practiced Ottoman Law of Societies, sent a notice to the governor of Jerusalem and the Jordanian government, informing the authorities about the establishment of the Party. The Jordanian government however, reacted instantly, and issued a decree banning the Party, and declaring its activities illegal. Hizb ut-Tahrir, nevertheless, ignored this action and continued with its work in al-Quds, al-Khalil, Nablus and other towns and villages. Harsh reactions were to follow by the government against the Party members, and these continue until this day.

Consequently the "Preaching and Guiding Law" was issued in 1954, with the objective of banning Party members from giving talks in mosques. Despite harsh repression, the Party has been able to grow immensely, stretching its work throughout the Muslim world, and even reaching remote parts of the globe like Aceh.

After al-Nabhani left Jordan for a short trip to Damascus and Beirut sometime in 1955 the Jordanian government passed an edict effectively barring al-Nabhani ever returning to the kingdom. Consequently al-Nabhani re-located to Damascus and later Beirut from where he led the party.

During 1973 whilst on a trip to Iraq, al-Nabhani was imprisoned by Iraqi security services and severely tortured. He was spared only due to the Iraqi security services misidentifying him as a scribe of the party and not its leader. His release was secured soon after however, upon the intervention of a prominent Lebanese personality to whom al-Nabhani was related by marriage.

Death

Due to the continuous harassment and persecution by the Jordanian government al-Nabhani was forced into giving up his role in public life. He was not seen again in public until his death due to fear of assassination. Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani died in Beirut on 20 December 1977, and was buried at the al-Auza'i cemetery.

Books

• Saving Palestine - 1950
• The Message of the Arabs - 1950
• The System for Society - 1950
• The System of Islam - 1953
• The Ruling System in Islam - 1953
• The Economic System in Islam - 1953
• The Social System in Islam -1953
• The Party Structure -1953
• The Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir - 1953
• The Islamic State - 1953
• The Islamic Personality (in three volumes) - 1960
• Political Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir - 1969
• Political View of Hizb ut-Tahrir - 1972
• Introduction to the Constitution or the Reasons That Make it Obligatory - 1963
• The Khilafah - 1967
• Presence of Mind - 1976
• A Burning Call to the Muslims from Hizb ut-Tahrir - 1965
• Thinking - 1973
• The Jurisprudence of Prayer

Although the names of others appear as the author, it is widely thought al-Nabhani is also the author of the following:

• The Rules of Evidence - 1963
• How the Khilafah was Destroyed - 1962
• The Penal Code - 1965
• The Ideal Economic Policy - 1963
• Refutation of Marxist Socialism - 1963
• Islamic Thought - 1958

The Three Stage Method for Change

Please read this article as well to get a clearer picture inshallah.

Stage 1- forming a group

Evidence from Quran. - Mohammed (saw) clearly established a group of strong muslims to fulfil this task.

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

Let there arise from amongst you a group that calls to the Khayr (Islam), Enjoins that which is Ma’roof (right) and forbids that which is Munkar (wrong), and they are the ones who have attained Success.
(TMQ al-e-Imran, verse 104)

Stage 2- attacking society

started after the following ayah-

فَاصْدَعْ بِمَا تُؤْمَرُ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
So proclaim what you have been commanded and turn away from the
Polytheists.

(TMQ al-Hijr, verse 94)

comprised of attacking norms of society- e.g. burying of daughters;

بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَتْ , وَإِذَا الْمَوْؤُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ

When the infant child asks, for what crime was she killed.
(TMQ al-Takweer, verse 8-9)

and cheating in marketplace

وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُطَفِّفِينَ
الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُواْ عَلَى النَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ

وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَو وَّزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ

Woe to those who deal in fraud

Those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure

But when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due

(TMQ al-Muttaffifeen, verse 1-3).

Also attack against political leadership- to form political vacuum e.g.
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb (before his embracement of Islam) one of the Quraishi leaders (who was the representative of the Quraish in many treaties including with the Messenger of Allah later (saw)) held a banquet and had a feast wheren he slaughtered two sheep. An orphan came to the house and asked him for some food, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb was so vexed at this that he swore at the child and beat him over the head with a stick. Then Allah (swt) revealed concerning him Surah al-Ma’un:

أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ

فَذَلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ

وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ

فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ

الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ

الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَاؤُونَ

وَيَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ

Have you seen the one who belies the Deen? That is he who repels the
orphan. And urges not on the feeding of the poor. So woe unto those
performers of Salah (hypocrites). Those who delay their Salah. Those
who do good deeds only to be seen. And withold small kindness.
(TMQ al-Maun, verses 1-7)

and Abu Lahab Ibn Abbas (ra) narrated that The Prophet (saw) went out towards al- Batha and ascended the mountains and shouted out “O Sabaha” so the Qurayshi people gathered around him. He (saw) said, “Do you see if I tell an enemy is going to attack you in the morning or in the evening, will you believe me?” They replied, “Yes”. He said, “Then I am a plain warner unto you of a severe punishment”. Abu Lahab said, “is it for this that you have gathered us? Taballak (May you perish)”.
(Bukhari Vol. 6 No 496)

Then Allah (swt) revealed,

تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ

مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ

سَيَصْلَى نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ

وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ

فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍ

”Perish be the power of Abu Lahab! And perish again! His wealth will
not enrich him. He will be burnt in a Fire of blazing flames. And his wife, too, who carries wood. In her neck is a twisted rope of palm fibre.”
(TMQ al-Massad, verses 1-5)

Also Waleed ibn Mughaira, the most powerful man in Makkah, respected due to his lineage, was attacked in the Quran, Surah (68) Qalam, verse 8-16

فَلَا تُطِعِ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

وَدُّوا لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ

وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَّهِينٍ

هَمَّازٍ مَّشَّاء بِنَمِيمٍ

مَنَّاعٍ لِّلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ

عُتُلٍّ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ زَنِيمٍ

أَن كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ وَبَنِينَ

إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ

سَنَسِمُهُ عَلَى الْخُرْطُومِ

So obey thou not those who cry lies.(8)
They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise.(9)
And do not obey every mean swearer,(10)
back-biter, one going about with slander,(11)
hinderer of good, transgressor, sinner,(12)
rough, thereafter of doubtful birth,(13)
because he has wealth and sons.(14)
When Our signs are recited to him, he says, `fables of the ancients'.(15)
We shall brand him upon the snout!(16)

Here he is referred to of doubtful birth.


Attempts at compromise:
There were many attempts that were made by the Quraysh through Abu
Talib the uncle of the Prophet (saw) at pliancy and compromise with the Qurayshi rulers but the Prophet (saw) rejected them all, stating that he was prepared to die carrying his Da’awah. They offered him kingship, money, women and a share in the rule. They stated that they would consult the Prophet(saw) in all matters but the he(saw) was clear in his response, “by Allah, if they were to put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, on condition that I relinquish this matter, I would not relinquish it until Allah has made it dominant or I perish therein”
(Imam al-Tabari in his Tareekh Vol. 6 par. 1179).

Stage 3- approaching the Nussrah- (done during stage 2):

The prophet (pbuh) approached over 40 tribes

Banu 'aamer bin sa'sa'ah. - agreed to give him support and protect him if the rule would next pass to one of them. The prophet (pbuh) rejected this saying that Allah puts the rule where he wills.

Banu Kalb- rejected him outright

Taif- Stoned and abused him

Banu Shaiban bin Tha'libah- agreed to protect and obey but couldn't protect him from the Persians due to a treaty- Prophet (saw) replied that Allah's deen is protected from all sides and thus he left.

Bani Aws and Khazraj- accepted the call with no conditions and thus they were the nusra of the prophet and helped him establish the Islamic state in Madinah.

Today, the nusra is anyone or any group that could help establish the state. This could be military officiers, generals, the army, or it could be other influencial people outside of the army.

Clear Evidence for the Obligation of the Khilafah

bismillah

Brother Abu Ismael has a post showing the obligation of Muslims to work for the khilafah from Islamic scholarly sources. I advice all the brothers and sisters who still have doubts on it being a fard upon us to read his post inshallah.

Secular Democracy and Islamic Democracy

bismillah

An interesting article has been posted on the Austrolabe blog about Democracy and Islam. The brother raises the point that Democracy does not have to be secular and that Islam contains "democratic" rules in its political system (shura). Now that's all good, the very fact that Islamic rule is not being contested as in other "Islamic" blogs which I will not link to, is a sign of progress in the ummah. The question now is, why call it 'Democracy' and not 'Islam' if, as we agree, it's all in the message of the Mustapha (pbuh)?

Al-Nabahani's Letter Reaches the World

P A L E S T I N E

S U D A N

L E B A N O N

P A K I S T A N

I N D O N E S I A

B A N G L A D E S H

B R I T A I N

T U R K E Y

Islam IS an Ideology in 10 Points

Bismillah

A few days ago I found a log by a brother who was asking whether Islam was compatible with Democracy. After replying to his article, the brother wrote yet another log, this time refering to yet another article which claims Islam is not an ideology.

I wrote a long reply which after posting it, I realised it actually deserves a topic of its own. So the following is my reply as to whether Islam is an ideology. The first two points are directed to specific comments the brother made namely saying that the word 'ideology' didn't exist at the time of the prophet (to say the truth, this was the only argument he presented in his article). The rest is my proof as to why Islam is an ideology.
---------------------------------

Assalamu alaikum
We'll go through this a small step at a time.

1)The definition of an ideology as can be seen, is generally accepted to be the system that includes social, political and economic views. Now by your way of thinking, because no such term technically existed in the English language, there never were any economic, political or social systems in the world.

2)Islam is not an English religion. You're sources are English authors, English words and English references. I think if you want to discuss whether Islam is an ideology or not, whether Islam has a social system, an economic system and a political system, then try bringing something more Islamic than that.

>Now I will start my arguments on why Islam IS an ideology and why we should implement it.

3)Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said:
“The prophets ruled over the children of Israel. Whenever a prophet died, another prophet succeeded him, but there will be no prophet after me. There will soon be Khulafaa’ and they will number many. They asked: What then do you order us? He said: Fulfil your pledge to them one after the other, and give them their dues, for verily Allah will ask them about what He entrusted them with.”

First of all, we can disagree on how Islamic the Abbasides, Umayyads, Muwahydoon, Ottomans, etc. were. Although at the same time the prophet (pbuh) refered to them as khulafah non the less, not only in this hadith, but several other hadiths. But for ease of argument, I will leave them temporarilly out of the picture and only consider the khulafaah al rashideen which as from ahlul sunnah, we agree by definition that they were righteous Islamic rulers.

Now my first question to you is, what did they rule with? Did they implement Western Democracy? ie, did they allow people to vote on absolutly everything, whether Allah made it halal or haram? No, they did not. Ok, so what did they rule with? I take it as we can agree that they did not implement haram and forbid the halal (at least not intentionally and in their own knowledge). Let's put that aside as that is fixed and not a single scholar disagree with it. So that leaves nothing more in their ruling except what Allah made mubaah.

For the mubaah, there is something in Islam called ijtihaad. It is reasoning taking the circumstances and the environment in the lights of the Quraan and the sunnah and bringing out rules that solves the problem. I believe one khaleef (I think it was Omar (raa)) who brought in a Persian law into the state, but this was only after he saw that it does not disagree with any Islamic concept from the Quraan and the Sunnah.

I think until now we agree in everything in point (3) as what I said is only historic fact that all the ulamaa agree with whether past or present (personally I don't put too much stress on the present ulamaa, but that's another story). It is how the khulafaah al rashidoon managed the state. All in all, everything they ruled with was looked upon in the light of the Quran and Sunnah.

4)So we know how the khulafaah al rashidoon ruled, they ruled purely by Islam. Now the question is, is social rules, politics, and economics part of their ruling? Well if not then what exactly are they ruling?? By definition a ruler or the ruling party is the manager of the social, political and economic affairs of the country. So yes, all these issues are obviously part of the state management and they are part of what the khulafah took to consideration in their every day lives as rulers. And they ruled by nothing except what Islam allows through the Quraan and Sunnah and their ijtihaad.

The above two points should be sufficient for any Muslim, but I will go further.

5) Tell me about the Papist rule in Europe. Why did it fail? Why was a tyranny and a dictatorship? Well, because the Pope had nothing to rule with except for his own mind. Christianity has absolutly no or very little guidance on how to rule, it is simply put, not an ideology. Therefor, in a position of leadership, the pope will have absolute authority, not the Bible because the Bible holds very little the Pope could use. And so, with what will the people hold him to account?

So the reformation came and the Renaissance started and Church lost all its powers. Several years later, what exactly is left of the Church? Do you honestly tell me that the Church holds as much authority on the Christian's lives as it used to? Even close? How about absolutly ANY authority? How many Christians actually don't have sex outside of marriage? No, how many Christians belive in marriage? Actually, how many Christians, when you come up to ask them about their deen, they reply by saying "I'm Christian, but I have my own thoughts about god"? This is a religion that was never intended to last. This is a religion that Allah revealed to Jesus (as) and his followers that was void of any thing except of simply ibaddaat and guidance on who your god is. It was not meant to last as there will be another warning after it. The warning of Muhammad (pbuh).

6)Islam came to rule. Muhammad (pbuh) was not only a prophet, he was a ruler who created a state and fortold the khulafah and ordered the Muslims to obey them. He said the children of Israel were ruled by prophets but after Muhammad there will be only khulafah and we should obey them. This is in the sahih Bukhari I mentioned earlier in this post. And as we mentioned in point (3) the khulafah rule by Islam.

Awf Ibnu Malik Al-Ashja’i said; "I heard the Messenger of Allah say;
‘The best of your Imams are those whom you love and they love you and whom you pray for and they pray for you, and the worst of your Imams are those whom you hate and they hate you and you curse them and they curse you.’ We asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah, shall we not then declare war on them?’ He said; ‘No, as long as they establish Salah among you’, narrated by Muslim.

The imam in Arabic is also a term used for a ruler, just as khilafah could be called imamat. Salah also in this hadith refers to the whole of Islam. This can be easily seen in surah Hud:87 in the Quraan;
"They said: "O Shu'aib! Does your Salat command that we leave off what our fathers used to worship, or that we leave off doing what we like with our property? Truely you are the rightly guided!"

7)So why should Islam rule? Well in point (5) I showed you why the Pope was a dictator. The fact that Islam is the last warning Allah will send to man, it should be a message that will last. To last, Islam should not be ruled by other systems or else its fate will be like that of the Christians who lost their Christianity.

We have a shariah law. This shariah law tells us how to punish criminals. On what basis do we have treaties and for how long. It tells us about the shuraa and forbiding of interests and other forms of businesses (for example the unlimited liability companies (agumentative)). With all this in mind, I have yet another question.

Why did Allah reveal the shariah laws? For example, when Allah says in the Quraan that we should cut the hand of the theif, why did Allah reveal this verse? Is it not, that in his wisdom subhaanuh wa taala, he knows that the best punishment of the theif is the cutting of his hand? And what is the purpose of laws and punishments? Is it not to stop crimes from happening? So in other words, is it not true that punishing a theif the way Allah told us will be the best solution to the problem of theft? It might not completely solve it, but it will bring us the closest as it is the law that Allah, who created man and knows man better than any other creature, told us off? Did Allah (swt) reveal this verse so that we read it and then put it back on the shelf? Or did he reveal it so that we implement it?

8) If you think Islam should not be put in a position of rule, then you're ignoring all the shariah rules which cannot (and should not) be used by citizens of any state, like for example, the criminal punishments in Islam. Not only are you doing that, but by saying that Islam can survive and the Muslims can live happily away from the implementation of shariah, you are saying that there is no point of those shariah laws, astaghfurullah. What you are saying is that even though Allah said that the cure for theft is cutting the hand of the theif, we can cure theft through other means, which is in some Muslims' case, ofcourse, growing a beard and rolling up your trousers. What you're saying is that we can create the model Muslim without the need of Allah's advice on how to create the model society.

9)For the model society, it cannot be created by individuals. To create a model society you need to have governmental authority, you need to determine what is sold in the market, what the TV broadcasts, the criminal laws, the societal and social rules, the education curriculem, etc etc etc. You cannot close yourself inside your own mosque and try to seclude yourself from the outside world. If you are able to do that, not only is it haram, but also, what about your brothers and sisters who fell prey to the corrupt society? Who will help them? You? What will you do? Gather a group and start preaching to every door? But I have an alternative I'm offering you. What if instead of running around trying to pick up every single Muslim who falls prey to a society that you yourself live in, why not create and Islamic society that will not prey on anyone and get it over with? Now I'm not saying we establish Islam in the US or France or UK or Germany. No, that's just silly. We have countries with a more than 90% population of Muslims, it makes more sense there than anywhere else.

10)My last point to you is this. Islam came as a final message of Allah. Abu Bakr (raa) said, "Muhammad has indeed died. This Deen needs some one to maintain it." You, as a Muslim, simply cannot live properly while living in a society that implement rules that are clearly against the rules of Islam. You cannot do so, and it is even more dangerous to raise your child in such a system. Each generation will slowly loose step until, as in the example of Christianity, nothing will be left of Islam in the minds of the Muslims. Personally, this prophecy the prophet (pbuh) said, I believe we have reached. And I believe that the we are in dire need of a khaleefah to bring us together under the shade of Islam. Umar Ibn Al-Khatab said: "There can be no Islam without Jama'a; no Jama'a without an Ameer (leader); and no leadership without obedience."
Here were 10 points that really are very simple to understand. I have a couple of article in my blog about ideology and what it means and how it effects people that go much more indepth.
The Ideology
The Ideology II
I would also envite you to read or at least scan through the following books by the Tahrireen.
Economic System of Islam
Social System in Islam
Funds in the State
Wa barakallahu feek and may Allah keep Islam the main subject amongst Muslims and guide his ummah into what is khair for her.
wassalamu alaikum

A HoloHoax Analysis and David Cole

Bismillah

I have recently downloaded a documentary by David Cole titled 'A HoloHoax Analysis' which, as you can tell by the title, is a documentary clearly putting a large question mark on the authenticity of the so-called Jewish "holocaust." David Cole actually visits Auschwitz and shows clear video recorded evidence of tampering of the structures by the Soviet Russians as well as the Allies. Not only that, but he also interviews Franciszek Piper (a staunch Zionist and author of several holocaust books) and extracts clear admitance that there has indeed been tampering on the site.

But the myth of the holocaust is not the main topic of this log, but it is something that is far more interesting, and worrying if I may add.

After watching the documentary I decided to research a little on David Cole and found something quite amazing. After the release of his documentary, an article appeared in the Jewish Defence League's (JDL) website written by Robert Newman who attacks David Cole and calls him a "monstrous traitor" (David Cole is an ex-Jew) and ends his article with;

"JDL wants to know the location of Holocaust denier David Cole, pictured above. Anyone giving us his correct address will receive a monetary reward. Contact us through e-mail immediately if you have information leading to the current location of David Cole."

A few months after publishing Newman's article, David Cole released a statement on the JDL saying;

"During my four years as a denier, I was wracked with self-hate and loathing, a fact that many of my critics were quick to point out. Indeed, this self hatred was obvious to most, but I was too blind to see it. The hate I had for myself I took out on my people. I was seduced by pseudo-historical nonsense and clever-sounding but empty ideas and catch-phrases."

It really reminds me of George Orwell's book 1984 and Stalin's infamous purges.

And here is David Cole's documentary, Holohoax;