the Kingdom of God

“Anybody who makes himself out to be a somebody will be a nobody”( *1).  More than any of his words it is these that are the most telling in regards to the mission of Jesus (as). 

For the gospel, literally the “good news” of life everlasting, was not unique to him and was brought by every Prophet, of the Most Gracious, before him. As the Qur’an testifies they were, each and every one of them, “Bashir’un wa Nadir’un” -Bringers of the Glad Tidings and Warners of a Severe Day. 

And just as his message was relevant to the Children of Israel, then, so that message has relevance for us today. 

For our Messenger (saw) foretold that “you will follow them even if they go down a hole” (*2); said in reference to our similarity with the former manifestations of the then muslim faiths before our time- the Jews and the Christians.(*3)

Some 2000 years ago, the Jews were dominated by Rome. And felt severely oppressed by that dominance. 

Rightly, they were a proud people boasting the lineage of the Prophets down from Ibrahim (as). And they lived within the precincts of Jerusalem with their book and their prophesies. 

One such prophesy talked of a warrior Prophet who would be sent to defeat their enemies and bring peace. That was the prophesy of Zachariah. (*4)

And so the greater the oppression, the greater their religiosity. For they believed that the more religious they became, the more holy, that then GOD would send them that prophet to fight for them. 

That was the community of believers at Qumrun for whom we have to thank the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

Some others sought refuge in the Law and still others in the Scripture. 

Just as some of us today seek refuge in types of Tawassuf (asceticism), whilst still others in the nitty gritty of the Fiqh or the Law. (*5)

But all of them, then, felt deeply their humiliation before Rome, and Roman man, and that paradoxically only increased them in arrogance. 

And so Jesus (as) was sent to bring them back from the brink. And to educate them in what they already knew. 

For when we listen to the message of Jesus (as) we see untold examples of him trying to enervate them once again with humanity, and consequently humility. 

For the Jews of that day despised the Samaritans, their erstwhile neighbours. And it is for this reason that Jesus (as) gave us the parable of the goodly Samaritan. That it is not who you are that defines your standing with God, but what you do with what you have been given. (*6)

And more than anything it is this message that they needed to hear in order to prepare themselves for the coming of his successor. 

Indeed, our belief is simply that, a culmination in the development of their belief.

That we are not special because of our belief, but that it is our belief that drives us towards performing good actions, and it is that that is special. 

And much more than that. 

For John the Baptist brought baptism as a means of purification, and nearly five times a day we anoint our heads with water (masa) in ritual ablution.  

Jesus (as) as a contemporary of John (as) adopted baptism and fell on his face in worship as we do. And he called towards the culmination of all belief in a day of cosmological proportions- literally the  Kingdom of God (or Heaven) on Earth.  

For what Jesus (as) said most astutely was that the culmination of all belief had begun in his time and within his ministry. This shocked the Jews no end, because whilst they firmly believed in those things, it’s coming true was something that they met with trepidation and hesitation. 

When approached and asked “are you the one foretold?” (The Adon of David, who would sit on the right hand of God. The one who would fulfil the prophesy of Zachariah). Jesus (as) replied, “How can the son of David be his Lord?” This was not a cryptic answer, but much more of a rhetorical question. For the priests well knew the answer even before they had asked it. 

That no Jew, no son of David, could be the one foretold. 

One whom our history asserts that they knew better than their own sons, because of the fullness of his description in their books. (*7)

For that honour lay elsewhere in the second line from the father of the Prophets; from Ismail the eldest son of Ibrahim, through Qusay, through Hashim who gathered Quraysh within the Holy Sanctuary; to our Messenger Muhammad (saw), the seal of the Prophets. 

And that day, the culmination of belief did not happen with the birth of the Messenger (saw), nor with the first revelation, but on the very first Night of Power; Laylatul Qadr; when the Heavens were sealed and the Kitab was sent down from the utmost Heaven to the lowest of them. (*8)

On that day a new era of rational belief began, with the revelation of the Qur’an. 

Over the next 23 years of Muhammed’s (saw) mission he received that revelation, piece wise, and through his heavenly counterpart, the archangel Jibreel (Gabriel). Until it’s completion with the rites of Pilgrimage that the Messenger (saw) taught us on the day of the greater Hajj, in his penultimate year: “This day we have perfected our favour upon Mankind and chosen for them Islam as their religion”, a verse of the Quran that was revealed just after. 

But before that, in the late Meccan period of that revelation, came down the verse of the Kursi (seat), which is fabled to be one of the greatest verses in the Qur’an. 

It is here that Allah t’ala, God most high, most likely first declared: “To HIM belong whatsoever is in the Heavens, and whatsoever within the Earth”. That to GOD belongs all, and to HIM is Sovereignty and Kingship, and to whom obedience is rightly due. (*9)

For whilst Christianity divides the Cosmos into an otherworldly Divine Perfection and contrasts it with the here and now of our Earth, filled with decay, loss, and the mundane (thoughts and actions that seek to drag us away from the beautification by religion). 

Islam brought about a revolutionary unification, that you can seek and find the divine within those very same mundane preoccupations. For example the Messenger (saw) once instructed us that God loves the one who works hard with their hands- literally God loves those hands. In the Islamic World View every movement and every act can become part of worship, the vital ingredient being that of pure intention. (*10)

When we fully appreciate that then man finds his place within the cosmos, and that which belongs to him, and that which he belongs to.  (*11). 

A truly sublime religion of Peace. 

What I have said here is my considered opinion. If it is wrong then that wrong belongs to me. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not via lectures, nor speeches, nor this above. 

NOTES 

*1- written from memory. I have sought to find it but have failed. However on asking a learned Christian he affirmed that “Jesus often spoke about an upside down kingdom”. 

*2- I paraphrase and you to source the actual literal reading of the words of the Messenger. 

*3- muslim here is used in its operative sense as meaning submission to the will of God. 

*4 The Prophesy 

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your King comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraime

and the horse from Jerusalem,

and the bow of war will be broken.

Then He will proclaim peace to the nations;

His dominion will extend from sea to sea,

and from the Euphrates

to the ends of the earth.”

See also this former blog 

https://shafeesthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/02/coming-comforter-physical-proof-of.html?m=1

*5 Both of which are just different types religiosity, embellishing the religion and making it more than it is, whilst at the same time fuelling each of our own senses of specialness. 

*6 Remember here that Jesus (as) himself said that his mission was not to Samaritans but to the Children of Israel.

*7 As Is written in our Seerah books. Since numerous Jews emigrated and took up residence in Yathrib in anticipation of the Messenger being forced to emigrate there. This happened after he was forced to flee from Mecca. There in the newly named Medina they recognised him and whilst a few of their number believed and became Muslim, the majority of them rejected him just as they had Jesus (as). 

*8 I leave you to reference the different verses of the Quran that point to this eventuality as a matter of contemplation. 

*9 And it is here also that His greatest name and attribute is mentioned. 

*10 for further detail see this older blog ..

https://shafeesthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/09/heaven-and-earth_28.html?m=1

For a Muslim holiness is not to remain aloof from this World in an otherworldly appreciation, but the Sunnah (way) of our Messenger (saw) is to work and seek our livelihood on Earth and it is in this travail that we find our blessings. 

For the Messenger (saw) said “God loves those hands” on seeing a man hard at work. 

To seek the pleasure of God is simply to dedicate to God what you do, it is the Basmalla, the correct intention and a purity of purpose.  So much so that to even give presents to your family is considered worship. 

*11 Read S. Hashr the last few verses, and feel the completion of recognising your place within the scheme of things. 

al- Azhab “the Confederates”

Salaams my brothers 

*Jumaa Mubarak* 

Within each and every political entity, it is the matter of succession or continuation, that is always most pressing. 

As we draw near to the December elections it is worthwhile to recall that Islam was no different. 

As Brother Adil Salahi made clear in a recent Friday Khutbah the first emigration to Abyssinia was made for that very reason. To show very early on that Islam has relevance beyond Arabia, and to ensure that it’s mission to humanity would never be lost. 

The personality of the Messenger (saw) has always been central to any true understanding of Islam, and yet the idea of a direct succession GOD dispatched with force when He reminded of a true statement of a future fact: 

"Muhammad (SAW) is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets. And Allah is Ever AllAware of everything". (33:40). 

Whilst Al-Azhab- the Confederates- came down as a direct result of the controversy concerning the annulled marriage of Zayd bin Harithah (as), it's relevance to the political circumstances following the Prophet (saw) leaving us should not be doubted. 

To realise this you just need to read and contemplate it, how it first starts strongly with an address to the Messenger, and then tells the companions that they will be held to account, and then gives clear instructions to the wives of the Messenger (saw). 

It is there that they first gain the title “Mothers of the Believers”, and ...

V32

“O wives of the Prophet! you are not like any other of the women; If you will be on your guard, then be not soft in (your) speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease yearn (for you); and even then speak a good word.”

Their role following on from the passing of the Messenger (saw) took a decidedly different turn, where they at once became instructors in the religion, and proofs of his truth, and took on prominent roles in the public life of the Muslims. 

But they did not and could not succeed him in political authority. 

So if direct succession had been ruled out, then what sole injunction lay within the body of Islam to instruct us in political continuation and that all necessary stability?

During the Prophetic era, Muhammad (saw) instructed us, through his very real example, in the ways of open consultation. (Shuraa’)

In the absence of any direct instruction to the contrary he (saw) left the bedrock of ALL political deliberation to be confirmed as being solely mutual consultation. 

Furthermore we know that this was not an oversight of his (saw), and also not an oversight within the religion, because we know of his preference. That he (saw) preferred Abu Bakr (as) cannot be doubted, and that he did not confirm him in that, cannot also be doubted. 

“Let all doors (to the Mosque) be closed except that of Abu Bakr (as)”

Once again, and even that is after his (saw) leaving us, did he teach us that the truest way within political deliberations would always be mutual and open consultation. 

That Abu Bakr (ra) directly appointed Umar (ra) following the uncertainty of the Ridaa wars and an expected opening of two fronts both from Rome and Persia. 

That Umar (ra) appointed a committee of the remaining Ashara Mubashara (the blessed ten that had been promised Heaven within their lifetimes). 

All of these methods could be taken to be part of the Sunnah of our Messenger (saw), but his greatest legacy in that task was how he left the people to confirm Abu Bakr (ra) after he had passed. 

This stands in open contrast with those who would have religious leaders as being confirmed as the leaders of his nation. For he told us that the inheritors from the Prophets are the learned, but not necessarily in political ascendency but in knowledge. 

Marcus Areulius, Caesar, advocated the rule of Philosopher Kings. 

But our Messenger(saw) when approached and asked “who is your leader?” Gave us the most splendid indication of who we should choose, he replied “the one who best helps the people”. 

The first and primary way of helping people is in regards to our relationship with God. That we must all fulfil HIS due.  And simply put that is to establish the five and make them easy. 

Then to exercise justice, and equality, amongst all. Then to bring ease to us in our worldly affairs. Then to set our National and Political goals and investments so that we might as a Nation develop and learn, to buttress against future uncertainty. 

These are the politics of the Muslims. And at Hudabiyya we learnt that in these things we are pragmatists. And if one cannot be had, then that should not, and cannot, rule out our striving for the others. 

The practise of Democracy here is nothing but joining the conversation, and making our views known. It is to speak to support those who are more just, against those who are unjust. To stand as one from the middling Nation, calling to a straight way. 

What I have said here is my opinion. If it is wrong then that wrong belongs to me. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not via lectures, nor speeches, nor this above. 

Indeed al-Ahzab is full of contemplation and can only be read in the full light of Seerah. The details of its revelation cannot be found in any Sahih Hadith, and the seeker of knowledge needs to refer to Seerah. 

In it we find:

- the Salawat on the Messenger 

- The verse that relate that he (saw) is the best example to follow 

- That he is closer to the believers than their very own selves 

- That it is not fitting for a believer to hold another opinion when he (saw) has already decided a matter. 

- Where Khaybar is mentioned. 

- And the verses above. 

Contemplate well 🙏

the Shariah- Watering the Soul?

Friday 8th November 

Salaams brothers. 

Jumaa Mubarak. 

Nearly every book on the Shariah lauds the Sahabas (the Companions of the Messenger (saw)) for being quite unlike any other community of believers before them. 

Part of their great attributes were their selfless givings. Another relevant, and no less great, attribute of theirs was that they did not ask of the Messenger (saw) over many questions. They were content with whatever they were given. 

And it is those two attributes that singled them out, above and beyond the other Nations that preceded them. 

However, part of their ancestors attributes is that we constantly want to know what is halal, recommended, advisable, to be abstained from, regretted and lastly punishable. 

The mantra that I have led, since when I cannot remember, is that the two are not the same: religious obligations and worldly concerns. 

That in regards to religious obligations, and ceremonies having religious overtones, that they have been made clear and any addition to that is a deviation from what has been sent down and is a going astray (bidaa’ - religious innovation). 

But that in regards to Worldly matters, that what has been forbidden had been made clear and anything else is permissible.

But what most of my peers hold is markedly opposite, that innovations in Worldly matters should first be deferred to a Shariah based position. That in effect all matters require religious edicts for clarification.

Interestingly this was not the attitude of the Sahaba (as). 

Indeed after freeing and conquering Sham from Caesar the Sahabahs did not ask if it was permissible to use the same coinage. They did not deliberate on whether the means of exchange should mirror its true worth, as in the gold standard. 

Instead they maintained the civil administration within the towns, in a similar manner to the Prophet (saw) maintaining the key holder's family's right to the Kaba at the conquest of Mecca.

This is not to say that a currency worth it's weight is not of merit, but that such deliberations should be about economy and not be based upon religious grounds. 

Nor does it say that our beloved Prophet, Muhammad (saw), had nothing to contribute on the matter. 

The Sahabahs appreciated the easiest means of ensuring a smooth transition towards meaningful change. That what separates us from them, in this World, is not what we do, nor even how we do it, but the depth of meaning that affects us. When we do, the Shukr that GOD gave us the ability and knowledge to do, and when we err or forgot, the Istighfar that brings us home again.

Indeed it could be argued that the whole of religion lends accessibility to meaning. That in the removal of our short-term worldview from the scope of our thought the meaning of our lives intensifies. 

That what each of us do, or do not do, has ramifications beyond our limited lives. 

And yet the vast majority of our book concerns itself with our daily lives, and that in order to create a justly balanced society so that our psychology is freed from the oppression of wrong. 

Such an understanding also sheds light on the Sunnah. That part of it is as a way of using appropriate words to evoke meaning within us. And the other part is to prescribe in order that the "what" of deliberation is sorted, leaving ourselves more to contemplate the "whys". 

So we know what to say when a person passes on, or an ill eventuality befalls us, so that we are free to focus on the meaning contained within it: “Surely to God we belong, and to Him is our return”. 

The Shariah, or even the Sunnah, is there really to water our souls. 

But when we get bogged down in the semantics of law, of what is reprehensible and what is recommended, it falls short of its noble meaning. And becomes just another set of rules that people differ over. 

We should recall that the Shariah is literally the path that leads to the watering place. 

A place where people gather together and partake from the same unitary source. That quenches our common thirst. 

A place full of barakah, meaning and understanding. 

So focus my bothers, whilst you learn about the what to dos and when to do them, on the meaning. 

For the means is but a way to the ends, and the ends should be the purification and embellishment of our souls. 

What I have said here is my opinion. If it is wrong then that wrong belongs to me. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not via lectures, nor speeches, nor this above. 

Soliloquy

What cue would you need to write that all important poem

That could churn your words with a buttery charm 

Melt in the mouth sweet pastry lines 

To not taste them would be a most heinous crime. 

In which person would you write,

The first, the third or the last?

I for one would rather the many identified 

He, nor she, but they sounds right 

And if the last, what ending would it be. 

That could sum up all the loneliness

Nor they, but one infinitely. 

The bitterest of endings,

To play, to speak without audience 

An unending soliloquy?

END. 

Grounded in a rights based society

Salaams brothers. 

Jumaa Mubarak. 

It seems like an age, but just over two weeks ago Lady Hale brought our Government to it’s knees; it’s then Brexit strategy lay in taters around the ankles of State. 

Many people, including some Judges, were surprised by the unanimous judgment. They believed that the Supreme Court had overstepped it’s mark. That no court had any mandate to interfere in the job of the Executive- the Government- that derives it’s authority from the very people it seeks to govern.  

Usul ul Fiqh, the roots of jurisprudence, began likewise by  inducing rules from law as practised, so as to lend coherence to it. But law as is practised is another beast. 

Until just last week I thought that a rights based society predated the revolution that Islam brought to the World. That when both Plato and Aristotle said that man attains his fullest form within state, because that is where he can realise his fullest capabilities. And that thus Statehood is a natural extension of man trying to be man. That they were talking from the stand point of rights. 

But I have just now learnt that they saw society as a fully functioning body: as an animal, with a head and limbs. There every man is simply a cell and performs a function for the greater good of all. And if he does not perform the function that is required of him, then the body of State sickens. 

How far from a rights based view of society this is. For here men have no right to freedom; they have instead  a responsibility to the State as an extension of their manhood and have right to little else, much less freedom. 

And there within that understanding, the State has both power and right to run roughshod over the rights, needs and freedoms of it’s constituent people; men, women and children. And is not accountable to anybody. 

Indeed our very conception of society, and state, that we live in here and in this age take as a given, has origin within Islam. 

That the executive is not above the law, and that the job of State is to balance the playing field as was so clearly told to us in Abu Bakr’s (the successor of the Messenger (saw)) first address to the people. 

Muslims are the ones that are grounded in rights one of another, even to the extent that we know the right that a son holds over his father, and the commensurate right that a father holds over his son. And it is this set of rights and obligations that grounds Muslim society to immutable standards. 

Indeed one man’s right is another man’s, or many mens’, responsibility. 

It is one of our Hadeeth Qudsi; where God talks to us, within a saying of our blessed Messenger (saw); that lays the foundations for universal human rights. 

There we are obliged as a people, and as a whole, to look after the destitute, the hungry and the alone. 

And it is the codex of law contained in the Quran and the Sunnah that saw the inception of a completely independent judiciary, even from the first day that the Messenger (saw) left us with the burden to uphold justice, even that is if it goes against ourselves. And more so on that occasion. 

We too are the ones that know that the most universal right is that held by the Most Gracious Creator of all. That it is for us to come to know Him, to recognise Him, to be grateful and thankful to Him, to worship Him as befits His Majesty, and then to ask of Him from His bounty. Anything less is corruption and a rebellion against the very fabric of existence and nature. 

Ours was the first truly modern society; a society founded on the Basmalla - in the name of Allah (the proper name of God), the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful- wherein even the right of the morsel of food that we consume is recognised and subsumed because of, and through, His Grace.  

And to us belongs the future. 

For we have much more to give. 

And time is on our side. 

Not Just Another Faith

“Can someone who professes belief, sin, and if they do then does that take them into hypocrisy?”

“Belief is profession, but if it is more than that, then how does it translate into the visible?”

Asssalamu Aleikum brothers. 

May you have a blessed Jumaa’, and I hope one filled with contemplation. 

The above questions are interesting, and more so when we compare them with the answers given by our Abrahamic cousins. 

However with the prior Nations, the Jews and Christians, belief is an exclusive trait, one to be protected to the exclusion of all else, even that is when they pray for others’ souls. 

Whilst there is a tendency in Islam to follow on from our religious predecessors, two things exert a break on us becoming just another faith. 

One is that we are informed in Surah Araf (the Heights, S7) that all mankind was drawn from the loins of Adam (as), and on the plains of Arafat were made to swear a sacred covenant that we would all only ever worship the One True Creator, who is Infinitely Merciful, Most Gracious . 

That covenant was exactingly similar to the covenant taken from the Jews. But with the Muslim Nation we are told that it was taken from all of the Children of Adam. 

It is this covenant that no man, nor woman, can recall, that exerts itself when any man, or woman, suffers and then calls on God for aid. 

Muslims also believe that it is this covenant that is also reflected in the natural disposition (the fitra) that is evident in all men, and all women, and more easily seen in all children who instinctively know what is right and what is wrong, what is just and what is unjust, what is good and what is bad. 

The second brake on us making our belief an exclusive one; to the exclusion of everyone else; is that it is an article of our faith that we believe that every Nation was sent their own prophet, and that we affirm them all as true. 

That all Nations of the World, and every age, were sent people, from amongst themselves, to remind them of the One True God and the path toward Him. And that therefore true belief is international, having no sectarian nor nationalistic basis. 

And then this belief, in the oneness of mankind and the universality of true belief, was made real and concrete at Israa, and Miraj. 

There the Messenger (saw) was taken in a single night to Jerusalem, there to lead thousands of those international Prophets, and Messengers, representing the whole mankind, in one distinctly Muslim prayer. 

Indeed in one of the most powerful and beautiful verses of Surah Baqara we are informed about the universality of our belief...

“It is not birr ( righteousness) that you turn your face to the east or to the west” (s2, v177) 

which then follows on with an explanation of what true belief looks like, after that is first emphasising, to us, it’s universality. 

Remember, that this verse was revealed in Medina, the city of the Messenger (saw), where the believers initially faced Jerusalem in prayer which was to its North. And then their qibla (direction of prayer) was changed to the Ancient House- at Mecca- to their south. 

And yet the verse here talks of East and West, not North and South. 

Indeed it is our faith that is truly universal, open to all, welcoming of everyone. And that’s truly amazing. 

Evident in our Salat, evident on the Hajj, and evident in our beliefs. 

What I have said here is my opinion. If it is wrong then that wrong belongs to me. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not via lectures, nor speeches, nor this above. 

Marginalisation and the Brotherhood of Islam

Marginalisation was never a new problem for human society, but has always been a perennial one. 

One whose effects were even felt within the first truly Muslim community. 

Today our Nation suffers no less from those effects. For there are masajid around this country where people are exhorted to attend and give towards, as a religious obligation, but where in the end they still feel like they do not belong. 

No wonder we find disillusioned Muslims looking for another way, moving away from our communities and into the rural areas of England. 

Distancing themselves from their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters. 

This is nothing less than a reverse Hijra. 

And yet the fault lies not with them. 

The favour that Allah t’ala blessed humanity with, was the creation of an inclusive Muslim society which can be felt through the accessibility of each arkaan (religious rule) to each and every one of us. 

On the Hajj and in the Haram there is no exclusivity for the rich or the powerful. 

So much so that you witness many errors in those rules that it makes you smile, especially when you remember the Hadith  ...

“A man said “Allah is my servant and I am his Lord” and Allah smiled”

This because in his eagerness for the religion the man made a mistake, and so Allah smiled in appreciation of his eagerness. Then how can we not love the people who in their eagerness for the religion, err. They are neither mean, nor uneducated, but most loved. 

Islam came to perfect society. 

And the Messenger (saw) was sent to perfect morals. 

And whilst his answer to marginalisation within nascent Medina might rightly be thought miraculous, it should still prove a benchmark for us all the same. 

A disunited, inward-looking, constantly warring Arab Nation, he united with the mission to tell those that did not know. 

A tribal society where protection was gained through allegiance to one of the tribal chiefs, he changed so that any and all resident of Medina could extend protection and it would be incumbent on them all. And that as a precursor to a lawful and right-led society. 

A divided city he united with a truly amazing brotherhood the likes of which has never been repeated. 

Where he paired together in brotherhood each emigrant with each free resident of Yathrib (the before name for Medina). 

Whilst the emigrants were the obvious beneficiaries, having lost everything in their flight from Quraishi oppression, the residents to Medina no less benefited. For they gained a title- the helpers-  became united and in being asked to give, knew that they belonged. 

And whilst some of them gave their homes, still others half of their wealth, and still others even offered to divorce their wives so that their new found brothers might have family ... the prophets instruction to wish for your brother that which you wish for yourself puts no such obligation on us today. 

A brotherhood that banished marginalisation, made a society of equals, and a religion that is fully accessible to everyone. 

This ideal can and should still provide a benchmark for us, today, in helping us to forge a way to remove the feelings of marginalisation, and un-belonging, that mar our communities. 

When a person moves close to you, or another becomes a new Muslim, or another advances in age and is in need of help and support, or another feels alone- our imams should invoke the brotherhood of the Messenger, in the simple things like inviting them to share a regular meal together, always being readily available to give sincere advice and help, and in the giving of unbidden gifts. 

And for a new Muslim this should mean that they do not loose a family, but in stead gain a family and not just in the bigger sense of the word being the global Muslim family. 

But also in the smaller sense of the word, where they are taken in by a second family they feel comfortable in calling their own. 

Our communities should monthly remind one another to be there for our brothers, and sisters, in need. 

Simply by asking if there are any there that are in need of the brotherly, or sisterly, help of one that is willing to be paired to them. 

Then we can say that we are trying our best to live our lives in the Prophetic way, where no one is left behind and all feel cared for. 

That is the brotherhood of Islam. 

Shafees. 

Credit image Parents.com which contains a section on how to deal with bullying for the parents of children being bullied.