A tale of two Nations

Who takes pride in a measley division in 

No better than the miser who covets others’ provision. 

And he thinks that the power of quantity

The dumbing down of all and sundry

The masses, the tabloid rabble, with fierce names 

“Does power the engines of progress?”

So that there come to sway over them

A lesser Napoleon, from a lesser tale

Who taunts at a religion 

That makes the rich the brother of the poor 

That makes wealth not sought for.

A burden, more burdensome than ever before 

Instead a perfectly mercantile society, where there is no division 

No cat/ mouse, no counter revision. 

No proletariat- bourgeoisie schism. 

Just a people who revel, each, in the giving. 

A Nation built on one commonality 

That each is equal 

But much more so 

those that live in poverty.

The engines here are not for one over the other 

The engines here are for one giving to t’other.

END

Western society sees the division between rich and poor as being a necessary evil that spurs progress. But not so Muslim society which makes the rich man the brother of the poor man.

Ta Ha

Alchemy of the Soul

The transformative power of the religion only begins with the testimony of faith. 

When Umar (ra) the then arch enemy of the faith set out to murder Muhammed (saw) he was told that he should see to his own household first, for unbeknownst to him his sister had entered the religion. 

After aggressively slapping her, he felt remorse and asked for her to read what Muhammed (saw) had been sent. 

She read the first verses of Surah Taha, and later Umar said that it was as if the revelation had been revealed just for him. 

It spoke directly to him. 

TaHa

We have not revealed unto you this Quran that you should be distressed by it. 

But as a reminder unto him who fears. 

A revelation from the Creator of the earth and the high heavens. 

The most merciful who is established on the throne (of authority). 

To Him belong all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and whatever is between them and whatever is beneath the soil. 

And if you pronounce the word aloud (or keep it hidden, then it matters not), for to Him belongs the knowledge of what you keep secret, and what is still more hidden. 

Allah, there is no god but He, and to Him belong the most beautiful names. *1

Why did these verses have such a transformative effect on Umar (ra)?

For he was a man of a single heart,  not devious, nor cunning but simply true to whatever he believed to be true. 

And he had seen and worried about the new faith, that it had set father against son, son against father and brother against brother. 

And this discord within his community was a source of dismay and distress to him. 

So much so that it was the very reason that he had wanted to end it by ending the Messengers life. 

So with the first line of TaHa it was as if this pain that he was feeling was being directly addressed: that Truth is simply that, even that is when it distresses people it still remains true. 

And the clarity, simplicity and beauty of the message made it an evident truth. 

And then the decisiveness of the judgment was made clear ... it does not matter whether you declare its truth or not, for Allah knows what you keep secret and those things that are still more hidden in you. Then should you not submit your will to the One who knows you better than you know yourself?

Umar (ra) set out with loosened sword to kill the Messenger (saw), and ended up on that same day bearing witness to his truth and the Oneness of God. 

Indeed the revelation of the Quran is a psychological manual on many levels. 

Indeed when we read the battle of Uhud in the historical account given by the Seerah and then compare it to the account given in the revelation then we see a disparity. 

Unlike other revelations given to other prophets which were in essence prophesies of the future, the revelation of the Quran (like in the Uhud example above) occurred after the fact. 

It is as if God is teaching us that things happen, but what is more important than the fact of the happening is your interpretation of what happened. 

It is what you decide to take from it, and how you remember it, that can act as a positive spur for you to go on from there. 

At Uhud the Messenger (saw) and the Muslims were defeated. 

And yet the Messenger (saw) said of Uhud that it is like a mountain of gold for the believers. 

Who other than a Messenger could have said such words?

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. Not lecture, nor talks, nor this above. 

*1 Ibn Ishaq tells us that it was recited to verse 14- Verily I am Allah, there is no God but me, so serve me only, and establish regular prayer to remember me. However the words establish prayer belong at earliest to a late Meccan period. 

The Declaration of Faith as Protection

“Every action is by it’s intention”

Strangely this facet of our belief on one occasion does an about turn. 

Every action shall be judged by its intention, is a means for us to check our intention before the action. For us to check our action before it is too late. 

The English have another saying which is no less true: “the path to hell lies paved with good intentions”. The Khawarij did not intend harm, but their ceding from Ali (ra) on grounds which proved that they knew nothing of the religion beyond it’s rituals, said more about who they were and where they were destined for, than those rituals themselves. 

The one act that in our religion completely turns this understanding of intention preceding action on its head, is the one thing that makes us Muslim in the first place. 

For when we suggest that a person take the Shahadah, we are not required to check and interrogate their beliefs. 

We do not need to ensure that their intentions are pure. 

Indeed it is the declaration of faith that guarantees protection. 

Classically we all recall that when Ali (ra) was fighting an enemy and he spat on him, that Ali left him be, because he did not want to fight out of anger. 

The fight was fought for good over evil, and once it became personal then that pure fight left him, and he left it. 

Likewise on a field of battle it is the saying of the Shahadah that conferred protection, even that is when the enemy was at his last straw. 

It is this fact of our religion that conferred on it the erroneous idea that Islam was spread by the sword. 

Because once said irrespective of your intention, whether to avert your imminent death, or for any other reason, it was accepted as a fact. 

That the saying of it did not require us to check their beliefs, nor even instruct them in the prayer, nor in anything else except as they wished and wanted. 

They were Muslim. 

And were counted amongst the brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam. 

Indeed it is the Shahadah that confers protection on us all, as is narrated in Hadith ul-bitaka, that Muadh (ra) only gave up to us on his death bed. 

And then we have the case of the man who came to the Messenger (saw) whilst a battle raged, and asked to be allowed to fight alongside the Muslims. 

The Messenger (saw) asked, are you a Muslim?

The man said no, and the Messenger refused. 

Thrice this happened and thrice was the refusal. 

And then the man took his Shahadah and was allowed to fight with the Muslims. 

Consider the Messenger (saw) knew what his response would be on to the two following questions and yet continued to ask “Are you a Muslim?”

The Shahada does not need to be heartfelt, because the transformative power of it is awe inspiring. 

Indeed many people who enter into the fold of Islam talk about a weight being lifted from them, or about the intense feeling of them doing something which is incredible. 

But we who are born into it, cannot feel this transformative power unless we enter into it in fullness. 

The Shahadah- I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except the One True GOD, and Muhammed is his Messenger-

• is enough to clear all of your sins, to make you as a new born baby in both God’s eyes and the eyes of the Muslims. 
• is enough to make you accepted as a fellow Muslim, by the whole brotherhood of Islam. 
• is enough to confer protection upon you, for in essence it is a treaty that you bind with the Most Gracious. And that the Muslims honour. 
• is enough to guarantee you paradise, if you stay true. 

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

We teach to learn, and the limits of the religion.

History, as remembered, is often one-sided. And that is also true of our collective story. 

Throughout Muslim history there have always been two strands of thought, and yet most if not all of you here will only have been aware of, and exposed to one, that of the ahl ul hadeeth. 

Indeed the other arm of thought has all very nearly been snuffed out because of the predominance of the other. But that does not necessarily mean that the other untold story is bereft of benefit. 

For we must always be vigilant especially when we recall that “Islam came as a stranger, and will return as one”, and when we recall the warning of the Messenger (saw) when he said that we will be many and then likened us to the froth on the sea. 

The other arm of Muslim thought was often called the ahl ul ra’iy - the people of considered opinion. And contrary to what you might have been conditioned to think they were not heretics, and it is not heretical to use your faculties towards independent thought within the religion. 

And this is not to diminish the importance of the Sunnah, nor the Hadith. 

For indeed the Messenger (saw) raised one above the other when he said “those that are here transmit from me to those that are absent, per chance they may better understand”. For the first command, here, would have been sufficient, whilst the second is not an embellishment but is the reason. 

And understanding is not from a book, nor from sitting with a scholar, but is through study and contemplation. 

And when we contemplate the comprehensive advice that the Messenger (saw) gave to Muadh ibn Jabal  (ra) when he sent him to the Yemen, therein is a lesson often forgot:

“How will you judge between the people?”

“I will use the Quran”

“And if you find it not there?”

“Then I will refer to your Sunnah”

“And if you find it not there?”

“Then I will exert my faculties to give a considered opinion”

To which the Messenger (saw) who was sent to teach us EVERYTHING, assented and confirmed. 

Indeed the Ahlul Ra’iy - the people who use considered opinion- have always been a prominent section of our society from the very beginning. They were the judges (Qadis) and counted amongst them some of the great companions. And they were also our Mufasireen. 

Ali (ra) before becoming the fourth Rightly Guided was himself a judge, whom people consulted in matters. And whom even the first three rightly guided consulted. 

When Ali (ra) was asked the question of what to do with those who consumed alcohol, he in all likelihood was the first to use qiyaz- analogy- within his reasoning. 

He said the like of, when a man consumes alcohol then he looses his sense of appropriateness and in the end he ends up slandering his womenfolk. And so he argued that the punishment for alcohol consumption should be akin to that of slander- a whipping. 

However he would have been the first to admit that was his considered opinion. For the matter is not decided in the Qur’an and Sunnah, for we know of companions of the Messenger (saw) who loved both God and His Messenger but could not leave off from it. At times the judgment, for them then, was imprisonment. 

It is instructive to look again at the advice that the Messenger (saw) gave to Muadh (ra). 

Remember the Messenger (saw) asked in regards to his Sunnah, and “if you find it not there?”  

Contrarily the ahl ul hadeeth school of thought wants us to believe that everything is and can be deduced from the hadeeth. Whereas the Sunnah, encompasses both what he said and did, and  is therefore broader and much more comprehensive (than the hadeeth). And then our Messenger (saw) tells us here the complete opposite. 

That there will be occasions when the Sunnah, whilst being greater than the Hadith, will not be able to help in determining the right course of action. 

Even further than that it is clear to anyone who studies the Seerah, in depth, that the Messenger (saw) was at pains to limit his scope to that which was within his remit. 

And that not just within his worldly and political life, but also within his religious edicts. 

That the religion has its limits, just as do all bodies of knowledge.

That all things do not have to be deferred to a religious point of view. 

And that the opinions of others in different fields of knowledge also carry merit. 

The Messenger (saw) was the greatest of teachers, who withheld naught of what he knew. And that he deliberately shows us through his example that the religion has limits is clear. 

And he was most happy when he saw his people being both independent and relying on the grace of the Infinitely Merciful. 

It is often said that a man that uses independent thought within the religion is doomed to misunderstanding it. 

But not when he is grounded in the religion. And not when he uses the opinions of our forbears as an anchor to his thought?

The greatest teacher that I had, never saw himself as a teacher - other than in manners and akhlaq and that to through example- but always as a fellow student that just happened to have studied at Medina, and for whom the tools of further study had been made open. 

This is our common story that is often forgot.

That we teach to learn. 

And learning is incumbent on us all, no less our teachers. 

And one cannot be a learner, and therefore a teacher, unless he first imbues himself both with humility and openness. And openness is not about knowing the answer, but about being willing to ask the right questions. 

I

I

The burning kiss

That leaves a mark

That went amiss. 

The silent eye

That one drop, 

                 that fell

The slobber that never came. 

The bursting vein

The hair on end 

The brace before the breaking pain

Those upturns 

That make me glad 

To be the cause, to lighten your very being. 

The pounding heart 

The sense of shame

The folly because there was none. 

The fire in my belly

That glazed my eyes

That calms when I set down. 

The soothing sounds

Of the greatest dikr

That emanate from my mouth. 

That calms the rivers

That meet and greet

Bold and brash, silent and glad

Fired and bursting. 

Within me.

The sense of glory

That causes me to ask of my Lord

For a forgiveness that is certain. 

The fulfilment of an oath taken.

The reward is certain. 

END

Written August 2015

a reminder for Muharram

The testimony of faith is the single greatest positive statement that begins with no. 

It is this statement which makes us Muslim in the first, and it is sufficient enough to guarantee us heaven in the greater life to come, in the last. 

The Arabic “La” is negation, and the first part, of the first part, of the testimony is literally “No gods”. 

It is an incredible emphasis on self reliance and innate ability. 

Prior to Islam people worshipped gods to seek their favour, with the coming of the religion we recognised the power and the glory of the one True God and seek His pleasure. And we use our God given ability in seeking that. 

Those who understand the religion know that what God loves most is those that do good, are good to the people, and help them. And the first of that help is in helping them recognise the mercy and grace that God has on each of us, that gratitude to Him is an unbounded blessing. 

In this month of Muharram we should be careful about what it means to be Muslim. For Islam is the testimony of faith, it is reliance on ability, the throwing off of ignorance, the recognition and then reliance on the Most Gracious and then lastly in the affirmation of the finality to the Last Messenger, Muhammed (saw). 

That with him the connection between heaven and earth ended, and full circle we are back to the first of the testimony - self reliance, with fear and hope. 

The fear of self doubt and the hope of His acceptance of our endeavours. 

Not all those who claim to be Muslim acknowledge this finality of the Messenger (saw), and we should be clear that therefore they are not Muslim. 

For the Shia in particular believe in a connection being maintained through the lineage of their Imams. A finality that God dispatched with force when He declared “Muhammed is not the father of any man amongst you”.  

And then even whilst we should recognise this, it does not mean that we should be offended, or call then our as being non-Muslim. Rather we welcome their use of the name, and hope the God guides them. 

But be clear in your mind that they are not. For part and parcel of the testimony is the finality of the last Prophet, may he forever be blessed. 

The authority that every Muslim recognises begins, and ends, with God and His Messenger. And no man no matter how pious, or knowledgeable, or honourable he may he has any authority except that it is derived from that. 

And all things are flawed, except the Quran. And no man is perfect. 

When you stand forth as an Imam you assume a role and a responsibility, and no title belongs to you. 

For us there are no priests, and no hierarchy of the pious. 

But two palms that you stretch in surrender and raise in supplication. 

And a tongue to ask, a brain to know, and a heart to feel. 

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

STOICISM

Stoicism is all the vogue, from Batman’s Dark Knight to Russell Crowe’s Gladiator. 

But what does it really mean to be a stoic?

-To soldier on amidst great suffering. 

-That there are necessary evils that we must traverse to get to the promised land. 

-That your morals should not get in the way of you doing the right thing.

-That collateral damage is often necessary. 

Bruce Wayne “suffers” the split of an essentially demonic personality in the name of bringing criminals to justice. 

Teresa May, the daughter of a clergyman, was arguably being stoic when she said that she would willingly press the nuclear button and condemn millions of innocents to suffering, if she had too. She was willing to suffer the burden of being the cause of misery to millions. 

 However on the other foot, Malcolm X’s “By Any Means Necessary” feels wrong. It feels not so stoic, not so principled, and it feels like a knee jerk reaction without a promised land in sight. 

Is stoicism white and privileged?

After all Malcolm’s promised land was no different from King’s, except he spoke from the language of black power defining an equality of treatment, whilst the other from an idea of working within the system, however flawed, to simply make a point, in the hope that it will effect change. 

And furthermore why should we accept the rules of their game? Because Stoicism is essentially that: it is accepting that for every gain there must be commensurate pain, but the adage here refers to a moral pain or ethical pain. That the Stoic is willing to bear the burden of a moral or ethical pain of doing the WRONG thing for the RIGHT reason. 

It is accepting the zero sum narrative, that if one wants to gain then another has to loose. And if we want our Nation to gain, then it stands to reason that another Nation must suffer. 

And if that must be, then it must be. 

I would not dare call Trump stoic because of his flippancy, and yet his Nation State morality is the same as Theresa May’s. 

That to better our collective lot, we must be prepared to suffer the ethical consequences of our conscience screaming at us. 

But the Muslim’s morality and principle is far far better, for we believe in al-husna. 

That ultimately goodness will prevail and is not colour biased, nor does it necessitate the abasement of another in the raising of yourself, or our Nation. 

And GOD, the Most Gracious, is the source of all goodness, to whom all gratitude is due and from whom gratitude comes. 

The overarching and overpowering ability of the idea of al-husna is completely immersive, and once believed shades every thought process. 

For those He blesses with the ability to be thankful are indeed the most blessed, the richest and the ultimate winners. Even that is when the World sees them as losers.

For they are the richest because even when they are dirt poor, they still have the capacity to give and share and then be thankful. 

 (Vis a vis the Muslim response to the anti-Christ (ad-Dajjal) the liar of whom we were all warned). 

Indeed the Day of Judgement is a Day without Doubt. The truth of it we each know because our conscience constantly reminds us of it. That we call ourselves to account when we do wrong, is just a premonition of a greater calling to account - a greater righting of all wrongs. 

On that Day whole Nations will be charged with crimes. And we will be raised with our Nation and bear the crimes wholesale for all that we did not speak out against, and all the wrong that we placidly agreed to. 

For read S Saba (chapter 34 of the Quran verses 31-33, and think about the conversation), and there you will find the argument between the leaders of society and their follower before the torment and threat of Hell. 

How the followers in pleading for the oppressor to bear his burden, lets fall the truth that he knew of his leaders “plotting day and night” and was therefore complicit in it. 

Then our leaders who wrong on our behalf, will not agree to bear the burden of our complicity. And the argument will be proved true against us, unless that is we inveigh against all wrong. 

Here, today and now. 

Pay your taxes, but fight with your words and ideas against all that is wrong, and for all that is right. 

For that is the good fight.  

And stoicism is the wrong fight masquerading as the good fight. 

For it denies the Most Gracious. 

And on the day of decision, the Most Gracious will deny the Stoic. No matter how vogue, or film-able. Or how good a story it produces. 

END

Knowledge is the product of study and contemplation. Not lectures, nor this above. If I have erred then the erring belongs to me, if there is any goodness in the above then indeed the Most Gracious is worthy of all praise, most Merciful. 

the Heart of a Warrior

The singular reason that Napoleon was able to carry his cannons over the Alps, and in this way surpass Hannibal who took his infinitely more mobile elephants, was because he made it a point to study what was possible in his youth. *1

The study of the biographies of others opens the doors to us of what can be achieved, and should enliven us with the elan vital to try to go beyond. 

To learn nobility of spirit you should immerse yourself in the life of the one who showed us all what true nobility meant. 

For the Arabs of Quraysh, nobility was a thing to be sought, even before the coming of the religion. 

For this reason they sent their children into the untamed dessert to learn a purity of language, and to inculcate the nobility of soul. 

And then a Messenger (saw) came to them, and us all, who took that nobility to an entirely new level. Where truth became more important than brotherhood, and yet brotherhood was never diminished, nor eclipsed. 

For he taught that brotherhood dictated that you shared the truth; that you stopped your brother in his erroneous ways; that you forbade his wrongdoing as a means of being kind kind to him and of looking out for him, whilst also suffering to  overlook his minor indiscretions. 

That true nobility was not devoid of feeling, as the English stiff upper lip would wish, but was all heart.

And heart can carry the day. 

For with every stiff upper lip is a weak chin. 

And with every true heart is a noble soul. 

For the Messenger (saw) taught the Arab patriarchal society that manhood can and should be compassionate. 

For he (saw) said to the Arab

“How can compassion be shown to one who cannot show compassion”

(In reference to the Day of Recompense). 

It is Muhammed (saw) that redefined what it meant to be a man. 

A warrior, a legislator, a father and a leader. An example to be followed. 

Who lived in the full light of history, with every believer hanging on his every word and every deed- recording it all for us. 

To learn nobility of spirit it is enough to immerse yourself in the life of such a man. And that is arguably his greatest gift to the whole of mankind. 

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

*1 Napoleon in military college immersed himself in the biographies of the generals that preceded him. At that time Europe was a collection of militarised waring states. 

It was his positive outlook and immense energy that created in him a mindset that no problem was insurmountable. 

And this inspired his men so much, that when the beast of burden failed, his men did not. 

7th April 2013 entry

I'm in a dilemma. 

I have booked to take my Children to a Family Muslim Camp in the middle of England this week. 

And now we have the Norwegian massacre. 

The salient points are disturbing in the least,

1- "Gruesome, but necessary", the devil was making an eloquent political point. "I had to do it, to save our society" language proves that this devilry was well thought out. An appeal to the whole of the right, to continue doing the devils work. 

2- So it was well thought out, and it turned out to be well conducted. 

Were the Police involved in the massacre?

The Police, as are the armed forces, are full of right wing bigots. 

The devil had an hour to do his devils work, and after that the police took him peacefully.

3- Contrast that with 7/7 or other terrorists. It seems not all terrorists are the same. The majority of the time the Police will eliminate them immediately sighting threat. Not so the right wing anti-immigration and anti-Muslim types, after all they're saving society. 

4- The devil flashed links to the EDL, and Hague responded "we can't cope with it". Is this response sufficient? Or does it invite!

5- The devil targets the youth. Why, because it sees them as the future. Similarly, the Israeli devils murder children with impunity. And the camp is a family camp with lots of Children. 

And so my heightened dilemma. 

To fear, to live in fear is the work of oppressions... 

How to prevent such fear?

To face it?

But if you face it, you can never outrun a bullet with your name on it. And bullets can devastate lives. 

To not go means explanations, and the creation of unknown fears in my childrens' psyches. Difficult decisions. 

My primary function as a father is to protect my family and children. Time for some decision sciences. 

1- Go, no explanation, no fear and no problem. None the wiser to a growing threat. 

2- Go, no explanation, a problem. Scared for life?

3- Go, explain the issue,  no problem. Learn to live with fear, throw it off, laugh in it's face. 

4- Go, explain, problem. Devastation, and fear, but at least you will be schooled in bravery in the sight of fear.... Which is by far one of the most important life lessons. 

5-Don't go, no lessons learned. 

I know now how i want my children raised... To be brave, to be willing to take a chance. To stand while all else fails.</p>