the Denial of Disbelief is not Faith

The denial of disbelief is not faith. 

For the Messenger (saw) told us that faith and belief has 70 branches, the least of which is removing harm from the paths that people walk. 

Whilst it’s true that the soil of your heart needs first to be cultivated by the removal of false gods, from vanity to envy, it is not this alone that can cause the tree of belief to take root in you. 

Imagine that least of a believing man that removes harm from the paths- 

Contemplate him. 

Who is he?

He is a man, or woman, 

who is considerate

not of those that they can see

-but of those that they see even when they are not there

-those that might just be harmed, 

not by them nor their actions,

but by things that just happen to be. 

They are aware of what harm might happen through their inaction, through their inattentiveness, and through the dullness of their heart’s eye. 

Measure yourself against such a person. 

To be considerate and to care for the “maybe” people, even when it is just a “supposed eventuality”, that is the least of faith. 

How can we cultivate that full consideration, of invisible future outcomes, without first 

the kind word, 

the warm smile, 

the consideration of how those feel that we meet, and live amongst, on a daily basis. 

Uwais al- Qarni (as) was not blessed other than because his obligation prevented him from meeting the hero of all of us. 

Fulfil your obligations to Allah, and then to those that your are obliged towards. 

Give thanks to God, and those that helped and aided you. 

A saying of his and our hero, our Messenger, has it that a half of the Qur’an is the Chapter of Convulsions (Zilzalahah). The Hadith might be classified as weak in chain of narration, but it’s content is sound. 

Every man shall see the profit of his hands.  

And the good that you send forth might dissipate as atoms that you can’t see in this life, but no less effect do they have on those other lives that you touch. 

And in what comes next all of those atoms weight of good will be yours to see and take comfort in. 

Good enables and sustains good. 

That is why faith is a tree, 

Because it is living, 

breathing and growing. 

And it starts with being considerate, 

And kind to others. 

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. 

Thank you, to each and everyone of you, who make our lives, together, so special

 🙏🙏🙏

Not a fifth column

Orientalist focus has shifted. 

They still seek to undermine the historical basis of our culture, casting false doubts over mutawatta... that which has come down to us from various independent sources. 

Indeed it is opportune that attention to detail in historical analysis originated within our own body of knowledge, well before anyone else. 

In this age they enlist our own academia, even the likes of Al-Azhar, against ourselves, when they support doctorates that declare that when we live in Ireland, per se, we are living the closest to an idealised Islamic lifestyle. 

It is no laughing matter when they grade each country, or society, according to an Islamic Index that shows that Muslim countries are the bottom of that pile. 

It is no laughing matter when the likes of Hamza Yusuf says that if you complain then you should emigrate to Muslim Lands where you freedom for religious expression, and devotion, will be limited. 

After the period of silence, when yearning after the revelation had replaced the initial fear of it, God revealed Ad-Duha (the Morning Brightness) as both a consolation and an affirmation of the Messenger (saw). 

This was before the public call to belief. 

And yet even at that outset, by means of affirming the Messenger’s actions before revelation, Islam was defined as a social religion concerned with social justice- feeding the poor, looking after the orphans and destitute. 

And then close on it, so much so that they are twinned, came al-Inshirah (the expansion or solace), a premonition of what was to come. 

“Verily with hardship there is ease. 

With hardship there is ease.”

The Messenger (saw) told us that on the day of no doubt, that he would make sajda (prostration - where we fall on our faces in humility before God) to Allah, to his hearts content. 

The implication being that he (saw) never made so within his earthly life. 

That there was always some other right pressing on him.  

That his way, and our religion, has much more to offer than the worship of the Most Gracious, as is His right and our inherent need. 

Indeed our faith is not to be content with it being practised in our homes, as the Orientalist and their agents wish.  

Nor is our faith to ignore the social injustices that pervade society. 

Nor is our faith to ignore the political hypocrisy that condemns our brothers and sisters a continent away. 

We live in the eye of the storm, and whilst it is calm here in the West, be of no doubt that the troubles that face the World’s worst off have roots here. 

When it is said to them do not make mischief in the land, they say “we are the peace makers”. That is the political hypocrisy that is clearly evident within this sea of calm, whilst all about are in turmoil. 

And it is our religion that holds that to be a looking glass for this body politic, and to hold up and show off the ugliness of their hypocrisy to their very faces, is a powerful calling. 

To do that with honour, ability and humanity, for all, is all that we should aspire to. 

That we might try our best to affect change, for the betterment of the World at large, for everyone from Africa to the Americas. 

And truth be told to the likes of our Scholars that wish for us to bury our heads in the sand, that democracy demands that we contribute. 

And what better way to contribute than to call out the hypocrisy of this false democracy, the hypocrisy that enslaves other countries to dictatorships, and then to be the standard bearers to a better- more inclusive- way. 

For holding out for truth and justice for others less fortunate than ourselves, who live on the other side of the world, should be part and parcel of this democracy. 

And we should be able to do so without fear of being labelled a fifth column, or a traitor. 

For far greater things bind us together, than separate us, because of where we live.

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. 

Shafees

A religion of Miracles

Assalamu’alaikum brothers 

Jumaa Mubarak. 

Islam is a religion of miracles. 

It takes a particular mind set to see beyond the everyday, and to realise just how much we  take for granted, and how much we have to be thankful for. 

For some that religious mindset makes them feel special. Of itself that is not a problem, however we should all be wary that after a time that feeling can lead to the slow erosion of what started as humility. 

And it is only by God’s kind grace presenting us with chance circumstance that we can return back to that humility with gratitude. (David (as) and the litigants). 

This is the role that Jamaa’ (the collective) often plays within our collective psychology. 

For when the army of Muslims returned from Mutah, having proved themselves against a mightier Roman force, by a factor of ten, they were rebuked by the crowd on entry into Medina. The rebuke was ill founded but the Messenger (saw) took heart from it and saw in them an eagerness for their religion. 

(Do not believe the Wiki account online as it fails wrt to historical analysis and is at odds with the Muslim version of events). 

The recent controversies surrounding M&S toilet tissue, and Nike, are points in question. To disdain your Muslim brothers when they show eagerness to defend the faith, is not the Sunnah. And if you think that you are better than them, then perhaps you need to contemplate the Ahl al Saff mentioned within the first twenty verses of Baqara. 

For these have not overstepped the bounds. 

And political activism is something that every Muslim should aspire to in the making of a just and true society. 

However for some the religious mindset only makes them feel special, and causes them to disdain others, sometimes even their own Muslim brothers. And sometimes it is because they feel themselves better educated or more intelligent. 

Still others when they have stood to gain from the usurping of other’s rights, only see that act of wrong as an affirmation of their specialness. 

That God has enabled them to do so, to wrong another, as an affirmation that God is on their side. (Israel vs Palestine).

But this is not borne out when we study the life of the most special of men, Muhammed (saw) who came as a guide. 

Know that if GOD loves you, then He will prevent and stop you from wrong, or from the stealing of another’s right, even when it is a trifling sum. And at these times if there is clear intervention, a greater miracle cannot be wished for. 

For then God has seen fit to protect you from harm. Or from your harming another, or taking another’s right. 

And if the rope is made out for you, and it is made easy for you to wrong another, however slight, then use it at your own loss- and stop it, at your gain. 

For still others that want of being, and feeling special, causes them to invent and add things to the religion that do not belong. Embellishing that which needs none, both simple and beautiful as it stands. 

They do this as a means of making themselves “feel” more special than the rest of us. 

I have seen this happen on multi levels, from the over complication of Fiqh, to the heresies of some tasawuf (Sufi paths seeking closeness to God). To know their error, is not to disdain them, but neither is it to hold them in regard. 

In all cases, it is openness that is a cure for them, or for their folk. And that openness means accepting them for who they are and then moving on. 

The believers have a sacred trust in God that far outstrips worries over their particular version of the religion. For it is He who promised to keep this religion pure, and to explain it. 

The Islamic mindset should make you both grateful and humble, strong in adversity, true and just in all dealing with fellow man. 

If should make you appreciate the ahlul saff, the simple men, and their needs. 

The secret of contentment and happiness lies in nothing but the remembrance of GOD.  

And religiosity has its bounds. 

Do not overstep them, thinking that by it you become better than others. 

Stick to the Jamaa’, and make excuses for those of your brothers that do so too. 

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. 

Shafi. 

Long Drawn

Long Drawn

Why is it we see the dead abroad 

When nights curtains pulled toward 

And when it parts we breathe relief 

As though the stillness was closing us in

Then we welcome the bird song 

As if heralded a present for us all. 

Is not time one seamless unity 

Bereft of meaning, plodding on

Nothing stays those hands, not even pity. 

But when we watch them, they drag along 

And in the dread of night 

They drag as if, it would not end. 

Shafeesthoughts

Injustices fight

Injustice 

The good fight beckons these merry men 

Those that count themselves all heart 

Corruptions had, when you stay still 

And roll with the onslaught of the dominant cultural wiles 

That would have you bend, and wallow 

Not stand straight, nor reaffirm your own 

Find yourself, within your own cultural tomes

Those books and languages that they say are gone and dead 

Have yet fire in them, to rekindle a light 

That would blaze to all four points 

That they could not stop, aghast with envy 

What nonsense a culture that has not a book

Unearth within yourself the sky. 

Leash yourself to tomorrow’s peace 

And fight the good fight, never letting up

Pray a Mujahid, let me once be called. 

Shafeesthoughts 

Eminently rational 

With reaching passion

The Protectors of al- Hudood

Salaams brothers. 

Jumaa Mubarak. 

I promise this won’t be a rant 😂. 

And I hope that the little that I give here is of benefit. 

We all hold in respect the Hafidh (or Hafiz) ul Quran, those protectors of the recitation that have it, as it were, inscribed on their hearts. For them it is both a great achievement and a lifelong struggle, to keep it ever present. 

In Surah Taubah, v112, after telling us to enjoin good and forbid wrong, God extols yet another protector, one who is hardly ever mentioned in our discourses. 

They are the Hafidh (or Hafiz) ul Hudood; the protectors and upholders of the punishments prescribed by God in the Quran. These include the punishment for theft and sexual transgressions. 

It is a interesting choice of words, for why does God choose to say protectors in those regards and not enforcers. For are not the two synonymous?

When we contemplate this question in light and context provided by the life of the Messenger (saw), and his companions (as), then we realise that they are not. 

For it was their understanding that to protect the Hudood was to not be overzealous in its application, and instead to err towards leniency, and only prescribe them when all other options were at a loss. 

There is an interesting anecdote of Umar (ra) chasing a man who had snatched his hat in a marketplace and shouting after him, “you have not stolen that from me... I have given that to you in Sadaqa (charity)”. 

This is what it means to be a protector of the Hudood, and these are the ones that God lauds in Surah Tauba....

From good emanates good, and from wrong emanates wrong. 

Those that affirm the Hudood, but are easy in it’s application and err on the side of ease. And prevent wrong with good. These are the ones. 

For the prescribed punishments are necessary to prevent society slipping away from a concrete moral code, as is happening now on a Worldwide scale. 

However the Saudi understanding of our Shariah, hampers rather than helps. And it is not true to the Sunnah, and is not a reflection of how Muslim society should be. 

Even the best of us sin. 

To sin is human, and to forgive is angelic. 

The Messenger (saw) informed us that of all of his Nation everyone would be forgiven, but not the sinner that outwardly displays his sinning and has no shame. 

In imam Ghazali’s thought the Fasiq is the wrongdoer who feels shame, and the Munafiq (hypocrit) is the one who wrongs but feels no shame and then tries to justify his/her wrong action. 

Here we note that when we do wrong, shame trumps truth. For it dictates that we cover it up in shame. 

Just as Cain covered his brother out of shame of his crime, and was guided thus by God sending a crow to show him how. 

When we sin, it takes you momentarily out of belief, until you remember that God loves to forgive and is aware of our weaknesses. And then recompense your sin with a good deed- reaffirming your faith in goodness- by the Salat and then by directly asking for God’s forgiveness and admitting your weakness to Him. 

No sin is so huge that it cannot be forgiven. 

And then God blessed us, as a Nation, with the sixth pillar of our belief, Qadr or predestination, which frees our future action, and resolve, from the encumbered past which had already been written. 

May God make us all Hafidh ul Hudood. Affirming it’s truth, whilst being easy with it, chasing away wrong with good, and then not seeking to apply it whilst we have not the power to construct a just society, along the lines established by the Sunnah (way) of the Messenger (saw), where mercy takes precedence over everything. 

And then may He bless us to hide our shame, and the shame of our brothers and sisters, and seek forgiveness from him. 

Ameen

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

I have paraphrased for effect, and knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not via lectures, nor speeches, nor this. 

Shafeesthoughts 

Religious Sensibilities

Religious Sensibilities 

There are few lessons in life that cannot be had by contemplating history. 

And recently I was reminded of an extremely important one. 

When Uthman (ra) the third rightly guided was killed, the Caliphate of the Muslims was taken up by Ali (ra). However Muawaiyya (ra) the governor of Kufa and relative of Uthman drew up an army and marched on Medina, ostensibly he asked that Ali (ra) deal with the rabble rousers that had murdered Uthman. 

The armies were lined for battle, and then Muawiyyah commanded his troops to put their Qur’ans on their own spears. 

The army of Ali (ra) would not fight, even though he urged them to. 

And Ali (ra) was forced to agree to a mutual arbitor between them. 

This is our ancient history, and what the scholars said about it, after the fact, was that however an enemy tries to affect your resolve, even through using religion, it should not stop you fighting for what is right. 

This lesson speaks volumes when you encounter Muslims brothers who try to manipulate you through wrongly appealing to your religious sensibilities. 

They do not want you to fear God, rather what they want is for you to cede to their wishes. 

You see, brothers, whilst our belief is simple, that God is one and sent Messengers to act as guides to mankind. The religion in nuanced, sophisticated and borne of paying attention to detail. 

That is why our religion had so many great scholars, who contemplated every nuance  in the revelation and the words of the Messenger (saw). Attention to detail was even then a thing. 

“Those who hear me, relay from me, perchance those (that hear from me, through you) might understand the better” 

So for example “fear God” was and can be used as an advice to remind people of their responsibilities to others, by all the more acutely reminding them to pay attention to detail- for God is witness over us all. 

However, it can also be used be by others, however innocently, trying to manipulate you. And this is where you need to reflect upon yourself and how those words make you feel. 

If they help you to become better, and remind you to good then all the better. 

But if those words make you feel encumbered to do a thing that does not feel right, then they are not empowering you with knowledge, nor supporting you with sound advice, and know that then those words, however seemly, may be being used to manipulate you. 

Islam as a religion always teaches us to reflect before we act. 

Always use your brains first. 

What God wants is for you to be just and true first, and that nobility of spirit is closer to the religion of Islam that those that use it as a game, or as a pawn of one-up-manship. 

The only way to educate those of our brothers that believe that such appellations to our religious sensibilities are appropriate, is not to be cowed by them in that instance, but to call them out and not stop calling them out. 

In my younger days a brother called me a coward for not ceding to his demands. 

Another more recently admonished me to fear Allah. And yet both were trying in their own way to manipulate me. 

For in our heart of hearts, we all know that nobility is what is just and true. 

Off course let your heart be open to the believers, and let there be softness in there for them, but for those that try to cause mischief through the inappropriate use of religion, let then find hardness in you in those instances. And softness in you at all other times. 

This is my opinion. And opinions can be wrong. Whatever wrong there is here, is mine alone. 

Shafeesthoughts