Moulana Yunus Patel Rahimahullah

The sound of his words “Allah! Allah!” still vibrate not only within the four walls of Masjid Nur in Asherville, Durban, but in the crannies of thousands of Muslim homes. His ardent plea of “O My Beloved Allah! O My Most Merciful!” continues to be etched in the hearts of thousands, layman and scholars, young and old, from the East and the West, all alike. This blessed soul who captivated the hearts of any who were even favoured with a glimpse at his illuminated face or had an eavesdrop on his charismatic voice was laid to rest in the soil of the most blessed land on earth after Fajr Salah on Wednesday, 13 July 2011.

The skies above the Noble Ka’bah witnessed a spiritual entourage, very seldom seen, moving in Tawaaf around the House of Allah shortly before Maghrib Salah on Tuesday, 12 July 2011. A short while after Salah this trail settled down in one area of the Mataaf benefiting from his pearls of wisdom and subsequently Maulana began experiencing chest pains which was followed by his soul tranquilly departing into the mercy of Allah. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un…

Maulana Yunus Patel rahimahullah was born in about 1945 in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Stanger. As a young boy, a personality which left a lasting impression upon his heart and served as an inspirational role model for him was Haji Bhai Padi rahimahullah. 
As Maulana himself narrated, “One day in 1962, when Haji Bhai just began his efforts of Tabligh, an announcement was written on the notice board in Grey Street Masjid that Haji Gulam Muhammad Padia will be delivering a lecture. After completion of the lecture, Haji Bhai called for help but nobody stood up. So Haji Bhai’s father-in-law volunteered, together with me (a 17 year old young boy at the time) and another elderly man. On another occasion, I decided to accompany Haji Bhai to sleep in the Umzinto Masjid as he was going to be sleeping alone in the Masjid. For hours that night, Haji Bhai kept busy in Tahajjud crying before Allah.

We travelled from Durban to Escourt, then to Ladysmith and further on to Johannesburg. At every town, Haji Bhai implored the people regarding the importance of Deen, however nobody was interested to assist. Throughout the journey, it was Haji Bhai’s crying of two hours every night that never stopped.” (Haaji Bhai Padia Rahimahullah encouraged Ml Yunus Patel Saab to become an ‘aalim)

In the early 1960s Moulana Yunus was one from among the early group of youth who travelled to Darul Uloom Deoband, India, to pursue the studies of Deen. Together with being a student par excellence, he was the confidante of many of his illustrious teachers and served them diligently at home and on travel. 
Upon his return, he served the community of Mooiriver as an Imam and teacher. He was motivated to go there by the fact that at the time there was not a single Aalim serving the Muslim communities between Pietermaritzburg and Newcastle. Even though people in the Transvaal offered him a much higher salary together with house, lights and water, the need of Deen took him to the icy cold town of Mooiriver where he accepted meagre pay and had to live in a tin shanty home. For him the need of Deen was greater.

After four years or so, he moved back to Durban and was instrumental in establishing the first offices of the Jamiatul Ulama (KZN) upon the insistence of Maulana Ansari rahimahullah. For many years thereafter, Maulana Yunus served the Ummah under the auspices of the organisation and subsequently was the secretary general and later the president of the Jamiatul Ulama (KZN). 
During the famous Qadiani Dispute in Cape Town during the early 1980s, Maulana Yunus was part of the team of expert ‘Ulama who prepared the required expert evidence in the court case to defend the honour of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam and the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.

At a time when general indifference towards Deen prevailed and signs of Deen were noticeably rare in the South African society, Maulana established a girls’ Madrasah in 1982 in Asherville, Durban. Students who initially had very little inclination towards Deen, would be motivated with his perseverance and dedication to change their lives within a short space of time.

In recent years, Maulana Yunus became deeply concerned about the unity and wellbeing of the ‘Ulama. He constantly strove to harmonise relations between them at junctures when situations were adversarial. His emphasis was to focus on the broader picture and greater benefit for the Ummah. In his words, “The need of the time is that we can maintain of our different opinions, but if someone has been instrumental in the service of Deen we can differ with him with respect and dignity. On other issues however, we should work together.”

Maulana Yunus was honoured with the mantle of Khilafah from two great luminaries, Mufti Mahmoodul Hasan Gangohi rahimahullah and later on Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb. Over the many years, thousands around the globe drank from his fountain of wisdom, piety and knowledge. Scores of people are known to have changed their lives just by sitting in our of his gatherings.
His humility, generosity, concern for the well being of the young and old coupled with his burning love of Allah and his Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam were remarkable traits all embodied in one personality.

Compiled by: Jamiatul Ulema, South Africa (Fordsburg)

Born in the Ottoman Principality of Wallachia, Romania in 1435 AD, he was known as Radu al III-lea cel Frumos to his Romanian countrymen, Yakışıklı Radu Bey to the Turks, Radu al-Wasim to the Arabs, and Radu the Handsome in English. This ally and childhood friend of Sultan Mehmet II was instrumental in the conquest of Constantinople for Islam. Radu’s participation in that conquest ensured that Mehmet II would go down in history as “Fatih,” or “Conqueror.” Radu was the Ottomans’ secret weapon against the Safavids to the East and the Serbs, Romanians and Hungarians to the West. The Muslim world owes much to this hero of Islam, yet they recorded little other than cursory references to him, perhaps for fear of taking away from Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s limelight. The Byzantines recorded Radu as a reviled despot due to their hatred for his conversion to Islam and instrumental role in ending the Byzantine Empire.

Yet, this Ottoman general had a greater war, a war against darkness. He hunted the very progenitor of the vampire legend who impaled his enemies and drank their blood – Vlad al III-lea Ţepeş, also known as Vlad Drăculea, who would go down in infamy as, simply, Dracula. The character of Professor Abraham Van Helsing was no more than a figment of Bram Stoker’s terrifying imagination, but Sultan Mehmet II and Radu cel Frumos were perhaps the first and only true vampire hunters in history.

The Blood Brothers

Looking back, Radu’s devotion to Islam and to Sultan Mehmet II could be traced to the political alliance of their respective fathers before them. Vlad II from the House of Drăculeşti (“House of the Dragon”) was an ally and vassal of Sultan Mehmet’s father, Sultan Murad II. Vlad II had 4 sons: Mircea II, Vlad IV Călugărul (“The Monk”), Vlad III who would come to be known as Dracula, and Radu III cel Frumos (“The Handsome”). As a gesture of unity with the Sultan, Vlad II offered his sons, Dracula and Radu, to serve the Ottoman Sultan. Under the Janissaries they studied the Qur’an, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Islamic Theology and Jurisprudence, and, coveted above all, Turkish military strategy and tactics of war.

The Ottoman special forces who held a higher status both militarily as well as socially than the rank and file were the Janissaries and the Sipahis. The Janissaries were the elite infantry of the Ottoman military as well as the personal bodyguards of the Sultan and his family. The Sipahis were the elite cavalry who surrounded the Sultan in battle and would be sent to deal with the most stubborn of adversaries. They were the commandos and special forces of their day. Though the Sipahis were almost exclusively Turkic in origin as demanded by Sultan Mehmet II himself in his treatise of law entitled Kanun Nameh-e-Sipahi (“Law Book of the Sipahis”), the Janissaries, within whose ranks Dracula and Radu found themselves, were conversely converts to Islam.

The young Dracula continually abused and rebelled against his hosts earning himself imprisonment and castigation. Due to the heavy handedness of the Turks in response to his insolence, he developed a compounded and complex series of grudges. He hated his father for allying with the Turks, which he saw as a betrayal of the Order of the Dragon to which his father had sworn an oath. The Order of the Dragon was a Christian fraternity whose sole aim was to wipe out Islam from the Balkans forever. Dracula hated Radu for his successes and the favor the Turks bestowed upon him. He was filled with jealousy for the then young Mehmet II who, like him, was a prince, but, very unlike him, lived in splendor. He was also jealous of his brothers Mircea and Vlad the Monk due to what he perceived as his father’s preference for them. His sentiments for Mircea however, would teeter between jealousy and awe. It is from him that the young Dracula learned the terror tactic of impaling thousands to create forests of the dead.

Radu remained faithful to Islam and the Sultan and spent his entire life in battle on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, vanquishing the most difficult adversaries of the Empire. His natural knack for battle was unparalleled even amongst the Janissaries and elite Sipahis of the Ottoman military, and he would be called upon frequently to subdue any foe that seemed insurmountable. It is reported that he turned the very course of Near Eastern history when he stopped the mighty Ak Koyunlu from overrunning the Ottomans, an event that, if not stopped, would have definitely changed the faces of both the Middle East and Europe today. For this very reason, he was called upon to face the threat from his homeland of Wallachia that neither the elite Janissaries nor the Sipahis could route.

The Conquest of Constantinople

“On the third day after the fall of our city, the Sultan celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed to escape detection were to leave their hiding places throughout the city and come out into the open, as they were to remain free and no question would be asked. He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned our city before the siege, if they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed.” (George Sphrantzes, 1401-1478, Byzantine Christian chronicler and witness of the fall of Constantinople)

It was a time of relief and rejoicing. It was a relief for the inhabitants of Constantinople who expected a prompt culling following the fall of their city. It was a time of celebration for the entire Muslim world for this historical conquest of a city that has remained, to this very day, the capital of the Turks. Yet as Sultan Mehmet II rode into the city victorious, a glance over to his childhood friend and chief of the Janissaries, Radu cel Frumos, son of Vlad II Duke of Wallachia, may have served as a sobering reminder that to the North, beyond the spoils of Byzantium, their fiercest enemies lay in wait. Among those enemies was the most feared of them all, Dracula, who just so happened to be Radu’s own brother.

The Rise of Dracula

Opportunistic betrayal was the way of Wallachia’s rulers and in one such brief betrayal, Vlad II silently allowed his older sons, Mircea and Vlad IV, to launch an insurrection after which Mircea impaled all his prisoners upon stakes. The young Dracula loved the sight of this and later joined Mircea in further insurrections against the Ottomans as well as the rival Dăneşti clan supported by the Hungarian warlord, John Hunyadi. Ultimately, Hunyadi overran Dracula’s father, slew him in the marshes of Bălteni and blinded and buried Mircea alive at Târgovişte. Hunyadi installed a Dăneşti prince, Vladislav II, over Wallachia. In his ambition and lust for power, Dracula put aside any vengeful sentiments for his slaughtered father and brother and allied with Hunyadi and served him as an adviser. As John Hunyadi went to face the Turks at Belgrade in modern day Serbia, Dracula attacked and slew Vladislav and took the throne for himself. As fortune would have it, a plague broke out amongst Hunyadi’s camp, infecting him which lead to his death. Sultan Mehmet was severely wounded in the battle. These events left Dracula to rule Wallachia uninterrupted for 6 years. It was the only time he ruled his home for so long.

The Impaler

“I have killed men and women, old and young… We killed 23,884 Turks and Bulgarians without counting those whom we burned in their homes or whose heads were not cut by our soldiers.” (Dracula, in a letter to Matthias Corvinus bragging of his tyranny)

As Sultan Mehmet approached what appeared to be a fetid balding forest of rotting trees in the distance he soon realized the horror of what he approached. They were so close to their destination – the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște -that he was in no mood for this puzzling sight. But the figures became more clear as the steeds in the cavalry grew unruly and the infantry felt ill. Before him stood 20,000 impaled bodies of innocent men, women and children, all victims of Dracula in that winter of 1462.

Dracula’s Muslim upbringing, albeit abandoned in deference to opportunity, and fluency in Turkish enabled him to move about the Ottomans’ most secured camps freely as a Turk without being noticed. This had deadly consequences for the Muslims. Dracula had entered Serbia with his men all dressed as Turkish Sipahis and slaughtered all the Muslim villagers, and those non-Muslims friendly to them that they could find. The intent was to leave a horrifying memento for Sultan Mehmet whom they knew to be soon taking their capital city. They erected this unholy monument in a bid to alarm the Sultan and terrorize his troops in hopes that they might turn around and retreat home.

What is remarkable is that there are no records of mass desertion of Ottoman troops after witnessing this. They pressed on unflinchingly. However, some historians have suggested that Sultan Mehmet II lost his taste for hunting down the ‘vampire’ following this invasion of Wallachia and left the task up to the only one who was capable of hunting down Dracula and killing him. After taking the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște, Mehmet returned home, leaving the hunt to Radu. After all, it would take someone who knew the mind of Dracula to defeat him, and none fit this bill better than his own brother.

This event earned Dracula the name of Vlad Ţepeş, the Romanian word “Ţepeş” meaning “Impaler”. Legend has it that if you look closely at the word you can see Dracula’s fangs dangling beneath as a hidden warning to the vampire’s terrible lust for blood.

Radu vs. Dracula: Brothers in Blood

As Târgoviște was taken, Dracula fled towards Transylvania in hopes of finding refuge with John Hunyadi’s son Matthias Corvinus. As was typical of Dracula’s opportunism and lack of reverence for religion, he offered to become Catholic in order to win Corvinus’ favor. He scorched the earth and slaughtered all the living in his path leaving a wake of desolation and writhing impaled bodies. He would not give up his homeland to the Muslims that easily. He began a beleaguering campaign of guerilla warfare that the elite Ottoman Sipahis could not endure. It is said he slaughtered 15,000 of the Ottoman soldiers in one single night. Still, as the mightiest of the Ottomans fled, Radu was undeterred seemingly driven by what can only be interpreted as an austere piety, to end the bloody reign of his haplessly misguided brother. None remained to fight Dracula save Radu and his fellow Romanian Muslim Janissaries.

The brothers fought lingering battles for the throne of Wallachia and Radu’s control of the region increased staggeringly with Dracula receiving less and less support from Matthias Corvinus in Hungary. In a strange twist of fate, Corvinus, the one to whom Dracula retreated, had him imprisoned for 12 years on charges of high treason. The people of Wallachia and their Christian nobles had enough of Dracula’s terror and put their support behind Radu who was pronounced Voivod, Prince and Ruler of Wallachia in 1462. Radu ruled the land prosperously for 11 years until his death while Dracula wasted away in a Budapest prison patiently waiting to rise again from the darkness.

Dracula’s Release and Final Battle

After Radu’s death in 1473, Dracula was released from prison. He immediately assembled an army and invaded Bosnia, slaughtering its Muslim population and impaling 8,000 on stakes in a forest of human bodies. Once again, Dracula had arisen from the darkness with the objective of eliminating Islam from the Balkans forever. He finally acquired the throne of Wallachia after his departed brother, but only for a month. Sultan Mehmet invaded Wallachia to remove this profanity from the throne his dear friend Radu had vacated in death. In 1476 the forces of Sultan Mehmet faced the forces of Dracula in Bucharest, Romania. Dracula’s army was overrun in a blitz and all were killed, including Dracula himself. The vampire had been slain. News of this did not suffice. His head was cut off and preserved in a jar of honey and sent to Constantinople. There, in a fitting end, Dracula’s head was impaled upon a stake in the center of Constantinople for all to see. There was to be no doubt or mystery.

The Muslims had finally, at last, killed Dracula.

by: Shibli Zaman via: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/

Dr. Imad Hasan is a Sudanese Muslim psychiatrist that lives and works in London, England.   He is also active in Daw’ah-and doesn’t take pride in that but rather considers it every Muslim’s duty….A couple years ago, Dr.Imad  published an interesting research “paper” (a 400 page book) titled “Cattle’s Ears”.  The subject of the book isn’t my point of interest right now.

In the introduction of this book, he details an amazing story of who the book is dedicated to.

The Story:

Dr. Imad met Terence Sidney Casey, a 62 year old priest, through his work- the priest needed some quick, medical advice.  The quick encounter became a friendship-as they exchanged ideas, thoughts and beliefs.  The priest admitted to Dr.Imad that in his 41 years of work, he never once taught the idea of the “Trinity”–simply because he didn’t believe in it.  Terence also admitted that he was “haneef” upon the religion of Abraham.

They exchanged books.  Dr. Imad presented Terence with a book about the signs of the prophethood of Mohammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) from earlier holy books.  Terence gave Dr.Imad a Bible with both Arabic and English with a special request:
Terence had suspicions that the holy books had been tampered with and changed, he said, “I’ve always hoped I would meet an Arab who could share their point of view to tell me if the translation of the book has been manipulated in some part.”

They continued their discussions on religion and prophet and the whole time Terence agreed with everything Islam had to offer. Over the next two months Dr. Imad and Terence’s friendship grew stronger and it was definitely a friendship to last for years to come!

Except–Terence was diagnosed with cancer. With only four months to live.

The day that the pair met to discuss their books was one filled with tension.

Dr.Imad: “After what you read, what is your stance on the Prophet Mohammad?”

Terence was silent for what seemed like an eternity, especially as the cancer had now spread through his body, leaving it fragile and weak.  His days were drawing to an end and there wasn’t much time left.

Terence: “Truthfully brother I’ve been searching my entire life for the final Prophet, and I’ve found him now on my deathbed!”

Dr.Imad then shared with Terence the ayahs from the Qur’an:

وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقْرَبَهُم مَّوَدَّةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَىٰ ۚ ذَ‌ٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنْهُمْ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهْبَانًا وَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ

وَإِذَا سَمِعُوا مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ تَرَىٰ أَعْيُنَهُمْ تَفِيضُ مِنَ الدَّمْعِ مِمَّا عَرَفُوا مِنَ الْحَقِّ ۖ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاكْتُبْنَا مَعَ الشَّاهِدِينَ

“…..and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe are those who say: ‘ We are Christians.’ That is because there are among them priests and monks and because they do not behave proudly. And when they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they recognize of the Truth. They say: ‘ Our Lord! we believe, so write us down with the witnesses (of truth).  And what (reason) have we that we should not believe in Allah and in the truth that has come to us, while we long for our Lord should cause us to enter Heaven with the righteous ones.’ So Allah has rewarded them for what they said ِ  Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein shall they abide forever, and that is the reward of the doers of good.” (AlMaidah 82-85)

By Allah, the priest’s eyes overflowed with tears from what he learned from the Truth! What did Terrance say?  “And what reason do I have not to believe in Allah with what has come to me from the truth, and long that my Lord allows me to enter Heaven with righteous ones!”

Only weeks later, Terence died and left this world.  And the tears did not leave Dr.Imad’s eyes; Terence had left without praying one prayer or fasting one day, but he left with true Iman and belief.

In his will, Terence surprised his family with his reversion to Islam.  The family thus had nobody to pray ‘janazah’ over him, for he was a Muslim! So, they asked the only Muslim they knew, Dr.Imad, to pray over him.  And so, in a small village in West London, Dr.Imad prayed a One-Man-Janazah over Terence, with over 300 people witnessing.  Terence left the book that Dr.Imad had given him and wrote on it: “To my brother and friend Imad, I ask the lord of Ibrahim to bless you and aid you in your work, and to increase your knowledge, and inspire you to write a book that will benefit all people.”

And that is the story of The-One-Man-Janazah.

(Story first shared by: eternallight.wordpress.com)

O you who believe! Answer Allah and (His) Messenger when he (s.a.w) calls you to that which will give you life, and know that Allah comes in between a person and his heart. And verily to Him you shall (all) be gathered" Al-Anfal: 24

The Prophet SAW in his ascent to Jannah could smell a beautiful smell and asked Jibrael what the beautiful smell was. He SAW was told this was the smell of the hairdresser of the daughter of Firaun, and her children,.

Who may this woman and her children be, we may ask? Yet another figure in an Islamic history book? But surely, my dear sisters, this woman is more than a dormant figure in a book. This woman is the magnificent, most beautiful example for us all, on what Iman really means. What steadfastness upon the Haq really means. And what sacrifice fi sabeelilah really means.

And the hadith narrated in Ahmad and Ibn Majah is as follows:
The hairdresser of the daughter of the Firaun, a nobody, another servant in the expansive quarters of the Firaun was one day combing the hair of her master’s daughter. And as she was doing so, she accidentally dropped the comb and after picking it up to resume her combing, she subconsciously uttered Bismillah. Just as we do, my dear sisters, before we eat, before we do any action, the utterance of bismillah is alhumdulilah of second nature to us, as it alhumdulilah was to her. But this utterance in no way had the same repercussions as maybe out utterances do today. Swiftly the daughter asked her what she had said, asking her whether she was mentioning the name of her father.

But this brave and valiant woman’s reply was – No. I mention Allah, my God and the God of your father. Immediately the daughter became angry and rushed to her father to tell him what had happened. He, in his anger, at finding this out, summoned her to him.
And she came and stood, a woman, a woman, sisters, in front of this great, most tyrannical and dictatorial Pharaoh. And he said to her, ‘who is your god?’ And she said, ‘Allah is my lord.’ He said ‘who is Allah?’ She said ‘Allah is my god and yours.’ Yes, she was cornered and put in a place, when she had to answer, she answered. No compromise, no thinking about how it would affect her job, her livelihood and most of all her 5 children.
Her answer made the Firaun furious and he ordered for chains to be brought. They whipped her, punsihed her but her reply was the same ‘Allah is my lord and yours.’

And so he ordered for them to bring a large container and he spilt boiling oil in to this container, and then he said, ‘bring me all her children!’ And her first child was brought. A child who for a mother, her heart aches for, when he may graze his knee, bang his head. Yet as the Firaun asked her the same question again and her response was the same, this child was put into the boiling oil, for his flesh to melt away from his bones, leaving his mother in this dunya.
But my dear sisters, the pain of the loss of a child, in front of your very eyes, in a manner which could make the coldest of hearts weep, did in no way weaken this jewel of Allah. She continued to watch all four of her children being immersed in the boiling oil and killed in this way. And then came the fifth, a baby who was still breastfeeding. And she was about to pull back. Imagine sisters, the innocent form of a baby whose total dependence on the mother for all form of nourishment, imagine how a mother would feel to think of the fate that laid for him. And then Allah SWT, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, in his magnificence, enabled this baby to speak to his mother. ‘Be patient my mother, you are in the truth, Allah Allah has promised you with a great heaven, keep going mother.’ SubhanAllah!

And the same fate befall the innocent baby.

She knew she was next and she began to cry. The tyrant, Firaun, then asked her why she was crying. And sisters, it was not in regret of what she had done, or in anger for Allah’s test upon her. No. It was because she had a request she wanted to ask this man, but she did not know whether he would comply. And what was this request?

This request was – After she was also boiled alive, that all that remained of her and her children should be gathered together and buried in the same grave. This is so, on Yawm Ul Qiyamah, she could be raised with all the children beside her and enter Jannah with them.
Sisters, what are our tests? Comfort? Ease? The fear of what people will say to us? The sacrifice of wealth, status, career? Just think of this fragant jewel of Jannah, and remember that nothing is too big a sacrifice for the sake of our Rabb.

from: http://islamicsystem.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-is-iman.html

strongWhy I Shed Bikini for Niqab: The New Symbol of Womens Liberation/strong

strongBy Sara Bokker
Written: 20 Zulhijjah 1427, 10 January 2007/strong

I am an American woman who was born in the midst of Americas Heartland. I grew up, just like any other girl, being fixated with the glamour of life in the big city. Eventually, I moved to Florida and on to South Beach of Miami, a hotspot for those seeking the glamorous life. Naturally, I did what most average Western girls do. I focused on my appearance and appeal, basing my self-worth on how much attention I got from others. I worked out religiously and became a personal trainer, acquired an upscale waterfront residence, became a regular exhibiting beach-goer and was able to attain a living-in-style kind of life.

Years went by, only to realize that my scale of self-fulfillment and happiness slid down the more I progressed in my feminine appeal. I was a
slave to fashion. I was a hostage to my looks.As the gap continued to progressively widen between my self-fulfillment and lifestyle, I sought refuge in escapes from alcohol and parties to
meditation, activism, and alternative religions, only to have the little gap widen to what seemed like a valley. I eventually realized it all was merely
a pain killer rather than an effective remedy.

By now it was September 11, 2001. As I witnessed the ensuing barrage on Islam, Islamic values and culture, and the infamous declaration of the new crusade, I started to notice something called Islam. Up until that point, all I had associated with Islam was women covered in tents, wife beaters, harems, and a world of terrorism.

As a feminist libertarian, and an activist who was pursuing a better world for all, my path crossed with that of another activist who was already at
the lead of indiscriminately furthering causes of reform and justice for all. I joined in the ongoing campaigns of my new mentor which included, at
the time, election reform and civil rights, among others. Now my new activism was fundamentally different. Instead of selectively advocating
justice only to some, I learned that ideals such as justice, freedom, and respect are meant to be and are essentially universal, and that own good and common good are not in conflict. For the first time, I knew what all people are created equal really means. But most importantly, I learned that it only takes faith to see the world as one and to see the unity in creation.

One day I came across a book that is negatively stereotyped in the West–The Holy Quran. I was first attracted by the style and approach of the Quran, and then intrigued by its outlook on existence, life, creation, and the relationship between Creator and creation. I found the Quran to be a very insightful address to heart and soul without the need for an interpreter or pastor.

Eventually I hit a moment of truth: my new-found self-fulfilling activism was nothing more than merely embracing a faith called Islam where I could
live in peace as a functional Muslim.

I bought a beautiful long gown and head cover resembling the Muslim womans dress code and I walked down the same streets and neighborhoods where only days earlier I had walked in my shorts, bikini, or elegant western business attire. Although the people, the faces, and the shops were all the same, one thing was remarkably distinct–I was not–nor was the peace at being a woman I experienced for the very first time. I felt as if the chains had been broken and I was finally free. I was delighted with the new looks of wonder on peoples faces in place of the looks of a hunter watching his prey I had once sought. Suddenly a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I no longer spent all my time consumed with shopping, makeup, getting my hair done, and working out. Finally, I was free.

Of all places, I found my Islam at the heart of what some call the most scandalous place on earth, which makes it all the more dear and special.

While content with Hijab I became curious about Niqab, seeing an increasing number of Muslim women in it. I asked my Muslim husband, whom I married after I reverted to Islam, whether I should wear Niqab or just settle for the Hijab I was already wearing. My husband simply advised me that he believes Hijab is mandatory in Islam while Niqab is not. At the time, my Hijab consisted of head scarf that covered all my hair except for my face, and a loose long black gown called Abaya that covered all my body from neck to toe.

A year-and-a-half passed, and I told my husband I wanted to wear Niqab. My reason, this time, was that I felt it would be more pleasing to Allah, the Creator, increasing my feeling of peace at being more modest. He supported my decision and took me to buy an Isdaal, a loose black gown that covers from head to toe, and Niqab, which covers all my head and face except for my eyes.

Soon enough, news started breaking about politicians, Vatican clergymen, libertarians, and so-called human rights and freedom activists condemning Hijab at times, and Niqab at others as being oppressive to women, an obstacle to social integration, and more recently, as an Egyptian official called it–a sign of backwardness.

I find it to be a blatant hypocrisy when Western governments and so-called human rights groups rush to defend womans rights when some governments impose a certain dress code on women, yet such freedom fighters look the other way when women are being deprived of their rights, work, and education just because they choose to exercise their right to wear Niqab or Hijab. Today, women in Hijab or Niqab are being increasingly barred from work and education not only under totalitarian regimes such as in Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt, but also in Western democracies such as France, Holland, and Britain.

Today I am still a feminist, but a Muslim feminist, who calls on Muslim women to assume their responsibilities in providing all the support they can
for their husbands to be good Muslims. To raise their children as upright Muslims so they may be beacons of light for all humanity once again. To
enjoin good–any good–and to forbid evil–any evil. To speak righteousness and to speak up against all ills. To fight for our right to wear Niqab or
Hijab and to please our Creator whichever way we chose. But just as importantly to carry our experience with Niqab or Hijab to fellow women who
may never have had the chance to understand what wearing Niqab or Hijab means to us and why do we, so dearly, embrace it.

Most of the women I know wearing Niqab are Western reverts, some of whom are not even married. Others wear Niqab without full support of either family or surroundings. What we all have in common is that it is the personal choice of each and every one of us, which none of us is willing to surrender.

Willingly or unwillingly, women are bombarded with styles of dressing-in-little-to-nothing virtually in every means of communication
everywhere in the world. As an ex non-Muslim, I insist on womens right to equally know about Hijab, its virtues, and the peace and happiness it brings to a womans life as it did to mine. Yesterday, the bikini was the symbol of my liberty, when in actuality it only liberated me from my spirituality and true value as a respectable human being.

I couldnt be happier to shed my bikini in South Beach and the glamorous Western lifestyle to live in peace with my Creator and enjoy living among fellow humans as a worthy person. It is why I choose to wear Niqab, and why I will die defending my inalienable right to wear it. Today, Niqab is the new symbol of womans liberation.

To women who surrender to the ugly stereotype against the Islamic modesty of Hijab, I say: You dont know what you are missing.

*Sara Bokker is a former actress/model/fitness instructor and activist. *

In the second year of the Hijrah, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) set out on the 8th of Ramadhan with three hundred and five of his Sahabah mounted on seventy camels. ‘Amr ibn Umm Maktum was assigned to lead the prayer while Abu Lubabah was left in charge of Madinah.

They rode the camels in turn heading towards a caravan led by Abu Sufyan. As they marched on, they sought news of the caravan until they had reached the valley of Dafran where they settled, and news reached them there that the Quraysh had set out from Makkah to protect their caravan. The whole affair then assumed different proportions for it was no longer the caravan, the question was whether to confront the Quraysh or not. So Allahs Messenger (pbuh) consulted the Muslims. Abu Bakr and then ‘Umar voiced their opinions, then al-Miqdad ibn ‘Amr arose and said,O Messenger of Allah! Go where Allah tells you, for we are with you. We shall not say as the children of Israel said to Moses ‘You and your Lord go and fight and we will stay at home, but you and your Lord go and fight and we will fight with you.

The Muslims then went silent, and he (pbuh) said, Give me advice O men! by which he meant the Ansar who had paid allegiance to him at al-‘Aqabah. They had pledged to protect him as they protected their wives and children, with the stipulation that they were not responsible to fight with him outside Madinah. When the Ansar sensed that he (pbuh) meant them, Sad ibn Muadh who was holding their banner said, It seems as if you mean us, O Messenger of Allah. He (pbuh) said, Yes. Sad said, We believe in you, we declare your truth, and we witness that what you have brought us is the truth, and we have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey; so go where you wish, we are with you; and by He who sent you, if you were to ask us to cross this sea and you plunged into it, we would plunge into it with you; not a man would stay behind. We do not dislike the idea of meeting our enemy tomorrow. We are experienced in war, capable of fighting. It may well be that Allah will let us show you something which will bring you joy, so take us along with Allahs blessing. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was delighted with Sads words and said, Proceed with full confidence, for Allah has promised me one of the two parties, and by Allah, it is as though I can now see the place where they will be killed.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and his Sahabah journeyed until they had nearly reached Badr. They realized that the Qurayshs troops were nearby and so ‘Ali, al-Zubayr ibn ‘Awwam, and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas with a number of his Sahabah were sent to the well at Badr in search of news. They returned with two young men whom they questioned. They disclosed the number of the Quraysh at between nine hundred to a thousand men and that the nobles of the Quraysh were out in force to protect the caravan. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) realized that they were facing a force which was three times the size of his own and that he would be in for a fierce battle. He (pbuh) informed the Muslims that Makkah had thrown out the pieces of its liver (or the best of her sons) into the battle and that they should harden their resolve.

The Muslims vowed to stand up to the enemy, they settled by the well of Badr where they built a cistern and filled it with water. Then they stopped up all the other wells so that they would have plenty of water and the enemy would have nothing to drink, at the same time they also built a canopy for the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to reside in. The Quraysh took up their positions and the skirmishes of battle began. Al-Aswad ibn ‘Abd al-Asad stepped forward to destroy the cistern that the Muslims had built. Hamzah dealt with him by smiting him and sending his foot flying. He fell on his back with blood streaming from his foot and Hamzah followed him and struck him, killing him near the cistern. Then, ‘Utbah ibn Rabiah stepped forth between his brother Shayba and his son al-Walid. Hamzah, ‘Ali and ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Harith stepped forward to meet them. Hamzah quickly dealt Shayba a blow and ‘Ali soon disposed of al-Walid. Hamzah and ‘Ali turned on ‘Utbah who stood firm against ‘Ubaydah and they dispatched him, carrying off their injured companion afterwards.

Then the two sides advanced and drew near each other on Friday morning on the 17th of Ramadhan. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) straightened the ranks and incited the Muslims to fight. The Muslims were encouraged by Allahs Messengers words and went forward. The fighting broke out fiercely and Qurayshi heads went flying from their bodies, the Muslims becoming stronger in belief all the time chanting ‘Ahad! Ahad! (the One! the One!). Allahs Messenger (pbuh) stood in the middle of the melee, took a handful of pebbles and threw them at the Quraysh saying, Foul be those faces! Then he (pbuh) ordered his Sahabah to charge and they duly obliged until the battle was over and the foe was routed. The Muslims emerged victorious, slaying many warriors and tribal leaders of the Quraysh and capturing many more. The Quraysh fled the battlefield and the Muslims returned to Madinah having achieved a truly great victory.

This is an extract from the book a href=http://khilafah.com/images/images/PDF/Books/IslamicState.pdfThe Islamic State/a by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani.

IMAM MALIK
He stood up to the Khalifah Abu Ja`far al-Mansur regarding the hadith “The divorce of the coerced does not take effect”. Imam Malik was told not to narrate this hadith but he did anyway and was flogged for it. Even after being flogged and while being paraded he still defied the Khalifah by narrating the hadith.

SAID IBN JUBAIR
Said ibn Jubair fought along side Abdullah ibn az-Zubair and was part of a group called the “Battalion of Quran reciters”. He was eventually captured and brought to Al Hajjaj.

He is renowned for his conversation with Al Hajjaj and consequent death.All throughout the conversation he remained steadfast to the truth even though this infuriated al Hajjaj even more.What makes him even more special is that you can lie when your life is at risk.When he was finally killed his blood gushed out in a way that al Hajjaj had never seen before, the explanation for this was that Said ibn Jubair was so relaxed at the time of his murder that his blood was kept in its original form, but usually if one is scared or afraid their blood curdles and does not flow profusely.

Abdullah ibn az-Zubair (ibn Asma) He stood up to Yazid and had to fight the army of Al Hajjaj.

While under siege Abdullah ibn Zubair went to his mother,Asma. She asked him, “what brings you at such an hour when the war is on?” He said “I came to consult with you.”Consult with me on what?” asked Asma. He said,”Most of my supporters have betrayed me, either out of greed or out of fear. Only a few remain with me, and they will not be able to resist for long. Messengers have been sent from the Umayyads proposing that I stop the fight, and they would give me whatever I ask for.” She answered “its up to you.You know yourself best. If you believe that you are right and fighting for a right cause, be persevering in the fight as were your supporters who died for it. But if you are after worldly gains, then wretched are you and you have destroyed yourself and those with you”. He later died in battle.

IMAM ABU HANIFA
In 763, al-Mansur, the Abbasid Khalifah offered Abu Hanifa the post of Chief Judge of the State, but he declined to accept the offer, choosing to remain independent. His student,Abu Yusuf, was appointed Qadi Al-Qadat (Chief Judge of the State) instead of himself.

In his reply to al-Mansur,Abu Hanifa excused himself by saying that he did not regard himself fit for the post.Al¬Mansur, who had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post, lost his temper and accused Abu Hanifa of lying. “If I am lying”,Abu Hanifa said,”then my statement is doubly correct. How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a Chief Qadi (Judge)?” Incensed by this reply, the ruler had Abu Hanifa arrested and locked in prison and tortured.

IMAM BUKHARI
Even here, there were envious people who did not leave him alone.They met the governor of Bukhara, who was a representative of the Khalif, Khâlid ibn Ahmad.They told him to call Imâm Bukhârî to his house and busy him withteaching his son.When the governor put this suggestion to Imâm Bukhârî, he was told,”I do not want to abuse knowledge and carry it to the footstep of the rulers. If anybody wants to learn, they should come to my school”.The governor replied, by stating,”If my son was to attend your school, he should not sit with ordinary people.You would have to teach him separately”. Imâm Bukhârî answered,”I cannot stop any person from hearing Ahâdîth”. Upon hearing this, the governer of Bukhara became angry with him and manufactured a fatwa (verdict) against Imâm Bukhârî to banish him from the city.

OTHER EXAMPLES
Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) and Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328), both tortured and imprisoned. Ibn Taymiyya died in prison.

Ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198), imprisoned and exiled.

Al-Nisa’i (d. 309/915), beaten and died from his injuries in jail

Al-Tabari (d. 310/923), Muslim historian, was persecuted by fanatic Hanbalis; his books were eventually burned, and grave desecrated by enemies.

Al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277), fired from his teaching post and banned to Damascus, then to Egypt, fired again, arrested and imprisoned, died poor and lonely in his father’s home.

The common characteristic of all of the above is that despite obstacles including in some instance the worse of oppression and torture they all remained firm in their belief and constant in their struggles to make the word of Allah highest. May Allah (swt) accept their actions and may we all be inspired to strive in their footsteps. Ameen.

from: a href=http://www.khilafah.eu/kmag/article/strugglehttp://www.khilafah.eu/kmag/article/struggle/a

We go back in history to 1862 where a young boy of a poor household was born in a town controlled by the Uthmany Khilafa. This young man was brought under the care and tutelage of one of the Shuyookh in his home town when he was at the ripe age of 16 after the death of his father.
He eventually developed a lifestyle of not sleeping more than 3 hours every night in order to get up to pray to Allah at the last third of the night and recite Qur”an until Fajr. He memorized the Qur”an (as all knowledgeable people begin their lives) eventually, and was known to have finished his revisions in its entirety every seven days, regardless of the sufferings he encountered in his life.

His courage and wisdom was pronounced, and was an example for people to follow. This was evident on one of his caravan trails to Sudan as a young man. A lion had deterred the people from entering a particular path. Caravans were veered elsewhere for fear of this lion. To distract this lion, people would resort giving it one of their camels, a most prized possession, so they could pass safely. He learned of this lion during the journey, where upon he consequently took it upon himself to face this crisis head on. Unlike other men in the caravan who were dumbstruck by the situation, he carried his shot gun, rode his horse and went after the lion. He came back with the lion”s head much to everyone”s surprise and due gratitude.

This earned him the name “Lion of Cyrenaica.”

An upbringing of courage and upright religiosity had a massive effect on him. His character would not only change the course of his tribe, country and people, but also the world of Muslims in the Post Colonial Era.
In his twenties he was known for his maturity beyond his years as well as his wisdom, for he continued to solve tribal disputes. His people listened to him and took his counsel regardless of village or region he found himself in. His manners were known to be great, for he was eloquent, balanced in his speech, and appealing to those who listened. This uniqueness helped him unite the tribes, and later on gather armies to fend off the colonizers.
His thirties were marked by the dawn of the Colonial Era as it began to spread its cancer to the rest of the world. At the time when the world was being ravaged by European nations, this man stood firm for Islam and faced colonizers with his valor. He fought fiercely against the French with a group called Banu Sanus, who would later be known as the Sanusies. For a brief moment, they also fought the British, who were marked by greed and attempted to conquer their land.

As part of a global feast on the so-called less civilized nations, Italy joined the European nations in causing havoc in the southern part of the hemisphere by colonizing North Africa. It was during this time, this man, in his fifties, gathered his forces in the face of an invasion attack against Libya, his homeland.

To pacify his resistance army, the Italians offered him high ranking positions and wealth. In return, they demanded that he surrender and follow their Colonial decree. He responded in a famous quote saying, “I”m not a sweet bite of a meal anyone can swallow. No matter how long they try to change my belief and opinion, Allah is going to let them down.They then offered him to leave his town to live closer to the ruling party complete with a monthly salary, but he again refused by saying, “No, I will not leave my country until I meet my lord. Death is closer to me than anything, I”m waiting for it by the minute.”
This man, whose seventy more years of age had not prevented him from fighting, was the soul of his people”s resistance against hopeless odds. He gave his people hope against an army thousands more than his own, equipped with more modern weapons, airplanes and armory while he and his men starved in the mountains with nothing on their backs but their rifles and horses. After his firm position, as the Ummah is always in need of such legends to lead the people, people gathered around him. He successfully began to strike the Italians where it hurt. He hit firmly, swiftly, and harshly those who thought occupying Muslim lands, oppressing, imprisoning, and torturing Muslims, was going be effortless.

Another man in his nineties named Abu Karayyim, from the Jalu oasis, had fought with him in the Deep South. Hunger and disease eventually decimated his people. The Italians soon stepped up operations by burning and pillaging villages. Women, children and the elderly were not spared. During their weakest point, people were gathered and placed in concentration camps.

The Sanusi, Muhammad az-Zaway, who once fought with him against the French, attempted to persuade him to retreat to Egypt with the rest of those who fought against the French. But, this man refused to turn his back on the enemy knowing well that his chances are dim against a force that was swelling by the minute.

When asked why he continued the fight, he stated that he fought for his religion, and he sought no other than to get the occupiers off his lands. As to fighting, he said that was a fard , regardless of the outcome as victory comes from Allah. He used to refuse any peace talks with the colonizers saying we have nothing but to fight the occupying enemies of Allah.

After countless battles, he was wounded and captured alive. He and his men defended themselves until he and one of his companions were left. At last his horse was shot dead under him, causing him to fall to the ground. He was shackled and brought to a city called Suluq, where the Italian military post was established.

This man believed Jihad was ordained upon every able Muslim while his homeland was occupied by the colonizers. With his faith, heroism and courage he earned the respect of even his enemies.The military officer who interrogated him said, “When he came to my office I imagined seeing someone like the thousand of murabiteen who I met in the desert wars. His hands were shackled, he had broken bones caused by fighting, dragging himself barely able to walk. He was a man not like normal men even though the affect that he was apprehended had shown upon him. He stood in my office as we asked him and he answered in a calm clear collective voice. When he gathered to leave, the brightness of his face like sunshine amazed me and shook my heart. My lips shivered towards the end of the conversation whereby I ordered him back to his cell to stand before a court in the evening.”

He was a legend who was firm in his religion at a time when the leaders of his country emigrated (as they do today) to surrender to the Italians. The biggest scholars of his time from the Sanusies, who previously fought with him against the French and the British, did not come to his aid in time. Instead, many of them became loyal to the Italians by giving them Muslim lands in exchange for clemency, monthly salaries, and freedom from taxation. Such is true for Muslim leaders today.

On the contrary, this man took out his Qur”an, held it, and gave an oath to Allah that he would not stop fighting the occupying oppressors even if it meant fighting them alone until victory had been attained or that he becomes a martyr. In the last twenty years of his life, he led and personally fought in 1000 battles.

When the Italian general made him a final offer to make him their puppet and be allowed to live like the other leaders of his people, he answered, “I shall not cease to fight against thee and thy people until either you leave my country or I leave my life. And I swear by Him who knows what is in men”s hearts that if my hands were not bound this very moment, I would fight you with my bare hands, old and broken as I am..”
It was then that the Italian general laughed and ordered him to be hung after a frontal saving face act of a mock trial. Even before the court was in session a rope outside the court house hung waiting him.

His hanging took place before hundreds of tribes in 1931. With the intent to scare the Muslims, the Italians did not succeed in doing this. The opposite had taken place. His hanging shook the entire Muslim world, and numerous resistances took place specifically in North Africa.

May Allah raise his position in paradise. A’meen.

The Italians took pictures of him in shackles, surrounded by smiling Italian generals, and those who expressed happiness for his hanging. They did not realize that it is those very same shackles and rope hanging around his neck in the hands of his enemies fighting for the sake of Allah that would become the envy of every true Muslim.

The man, whose mug shot spoke his legacy, is none other than Omar AlMukhtar. His legacy will live until the day of judgement, Inshallah. With his blood, he drew the stories of victory; he became a legend of the legends, and a guide for those who wanted to live in honor at a time of humiliation.

The surrendered modernists and disbelieving scholars of his time were not imprisoned nor hung. They died a normal death, possibly even in luxury and wealth, under the protection of the occupying Italians. However, they died and their names died with them. Jahannam is the abode of those who ally themselves with the kuffar colonizers over the Muslims. Omar AlMukhtar lived, and fought hard in the days of his life. He was shackled, imprisoned, then hung. But his legacy lives on and paradise, Inshallah, in the resort of the martyrs.

Omar AlMukhtar was attached to Allah, depending on Him, and accepting that which Allah had written for him. He asked Allah to become a martyr and this he had attained, InshAllah.

Ahmad-Jibril
Written in the one third end of the night of Oct. 12, 2004

This comes from the editors of  IslamicTube.net

Here are ten Statements from the Salaf On Love and Hate for Allah swt Sake

These are collected in al-Ghazzali’s ‘Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din’ (2/195 onwards):

Here are ten Statements from the Salaf On Love and Hate for Allah swt Sake
These are collected in al-Ghazzali’s ‘Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din’ (2/195 onwards):

1 – ‘Umar bin al-Khattab said:
“If one of you is blessed with affection from his brother, he should hold onto that as tightly as possible, as it is quite rare for one to be blessed with this.”

2 – ‘Umar also said:
“Nobody is given anything besides his Islam better than a righteous friend.”

3 – ‘Ali bin Abi Talib said:
“Tend to your brothers, as they are your sustenance in this world and the next. Do you not hear the saying of the people of Hell: {“Now, we have neither intercessors nor close friends to help us!”} [ash-Shu'ara'; 100-1]?”

4 – ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said:
“By Allah, if I fasted all day without eating, prayed all night without sleeping, spent all of my wealth in the Path of Allah, died the day I died, but had no love in my heart for those who obey Allah, and no hatred in my heart for those who disobey Allah, none of this would benefit me in the least.”

5 – ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud said:
“If a man were to stand for seventy years worshipping Allah between the Yemeni Corner and the Maqam of Ibrahim (at the Ka’bah), he would still be resurrected on the Day of Judgement with those whom he loved.”

6 – Ibn as-Sammak said, on his deathbed:
“O Allah! You Know that, even if I had disobeyed You, I loved those who obeyed You! So, make this for me a means of nearness to You!”

7 – Mujahid said:
“Those who love each other for Allah’s Sake, when they smile at each other, their sins fall from each other, just as the leaves fall from a tree before the winter.”

8 – al-Ghazzali said, commenting on the saying of the Prophet:
“The strongest bond of faith is to love for Allah and to hate for Allah”:
“Because of this, it is a must that a person have those that he hates for Allah’s Sake, just as he has friends and brothers that he loves for Allah’s Sake.”

9 – Abu Hurayrah said:
“The slave will be brought between the Hands of Allah – the Exalted – on the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will Say to him: ‘Did you love one of my awliya’, so that I can join you with him?’“

10 – al-Hasan al-Basri said:
“Being harsh against a fasiq brings you closer to Allah – the Exalted.”

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, an American convert, was arrested by the Kenyan military in January 2007 and handed over the US authorities. In April he pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization and
was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in June. In this first-hand account from his cell in Houston’s Federal Detention Centre he describes the circumstances around his migration to Somalia, the tragic death of his wife Umm Musa and his
subsequent arrest in Kenya and imprisonment there and in the US.

Below is his story, poems and press clippings (his actual story is less then 10 pages)

Click here to download a.pdf copy My Imprisonment (1meg)