StarGazer

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  2. Posted

    *I found this article interesting to read. Enjoy*

     

    Most western views of Muslims are founded on ignorance

     

    Hamza Yusuf

    Wednesday June 19, 2002

    The Guardian

     

    When a Welsh resistance leader was captured and brought before the emperor in

    Rome, he said: "Because you desire to conquer the world, it does not

    necessarily follow that the world desires to be conquered by you." Today one

    could offer an echo of this sentiment to western liberals: "Because you wish

    your values to prevail throughout the world, it does not always follow that

    the world wishes to adopt them." The imperial voice is based on ignorance of

    the rich traditions of other civilisations, and on an undue optimism about

    what the west is doing to the world politically, economically and

    environmentally.

    The entrenched beliefs many westerners profess about Islam often reveal more

    about the west than they do about Islam or Muslims. The Ottomans were

    history's longest-lasting major dynasty; their durability must have had some

    relation to their ability to rule a multi-faith empire at a time when Europe

    was busily hanging, drawing and quartering different varieties of Christian

    believer.

     

    Today Islam is said to be less, not more, tolerant than the west, and we need

    to ask which, precisely, are the "western" values with which Islam is so

    incompatible? Some believe Islam's attitude towards women is the source of the

    Muslim "problem". Westerners need to look to their own attitudes here and

    recognise that only very recently have patriarchal structures begun to erode

    in the west.

     

    The Islamic tradition does show some areas of apparent incompatibility with

    the goals of women in the west, and Muslims have a long way to go in their

    attitudes towards women. But blaming the religion is again to express an

    ignorance both of the religion and of the historical struggle for equality of

    women in Muslim societies.

     

    A careful reading of modern female theologians of Islam would cause western

    women to be impressed by legal injunctions more than 1,000 years old that, for

    instance, grant women legal rights to domestic help at the expense of their

    husbands. Three of the four Sunni schools consider domestic chores outside the

    scope of a woman's legal responsibilities toward her husband. Contrast that

    with US polls showing that working women still do 80% of domestic chores.

     

    Westerners, in their advocacy of global conformism, often speak of "progress"

    and the rejection of the not-too-distant feudal past, and are less likely to

    reveal their unease about corporate hegemony and the real human implications

    of globalisation.

     

    Neither are the missionaries of western values willing to consider why Europe,

    the heart of the west, should have generated two world wars which killed more

    civilians than all the wars of the previous 20 centuries. As Muslims point

    out, we are asked to call them "world wars" despite their reality as western

    wars, which targeted civilians with weapons of mass destruction at a time when

    Islam was largely at peace.

     

    We Muslims are unpersuaded by many triumphalist claims made for the west, but

    are happy with its core values. As a westerner, the child of civil rights and

    anti-war activists, I embraced Islam not in abandonment of my core values,

    drawn almost entirely from the progressive tradition, but as an affirmation of

    them. I have since studied Islamic law for 10 years with traditionally trained

    scholars, and while some particulars in medieval legal texts have troubled me,

    never have the universals come into conflict with anything my progressive

    Californian mother taught me. Instead, I have marvelled at how most of what

    western society claims as its own highest ideals are deeply rooted in Islamic

    tradition.

     

    The chauvinism apparent among some westerners is typically triggered by

    Islamic extremism. Few take the trouble to notice that mainstream Islam

    dislikes the extremists as much as the west does. What I fear is that an

    excuse has been provided to supply some westerners with a replacement for

    their older habit of anti-semitism. The shift is not such a difficult one.

    Arabs, after all, are semites, and the Arabian prophet's teaching is closer in

    its theology and law to Judaism than it is to Christianity. We Muslims in the

    west, like Jews before us, grapple with the same issues that Jews of the past

    did: integration or isolation, tradition or reform, intermarriage or

    intra-marriage.

     

    Muslims who yearn for an ideal Islamic state are in some ways reflecting the

    old aspirations of the Diaspora Jews for a homeland where they would be free

    to be different. Muslims, like Jews, often dress differently; we cannot eat

    some of the food of the host countries. Like the Jews of the past, we are now

    seen as parasites on the social body, burdened with a uniform and unreformable

    law, contributing little, scheming in ghettoes, and obscurely indifferent to

    personal hygiene.

     

    Cartoons of Arabs seem little different to the caricatures of Jews in German

    newspapers of the Nazi period. In the 1930s, such images ensured that few

    found the courage to speak out about the possible consequences of such a

    demonisation, just as few today are really thinking about the anti-Muslim

    rhetoric of the extreme-right parties across Europe. Muslims in general, and

    Arabs especially, have become the new "other".

     

    When I met President Bush last year, I gave him two books. One was The

    Essential Koran, translated by Thomas Cleary. The second was another

    translation by Cleary, Thunder in the Sky: Secrets of the Acquisition and Use

    of Power. Written by an ancient Chinese sage, it reflects the universal values

    of another great people.

     

    I did this because, as an American, rooted in the best of western tradition,

    and a Muslim convert who finds much of profundity in Chinese philosophy, I

    believe the "Huntington thesis" that these three great civilisations must

    inevitably clash is a lie. Each civilisation speaks with many voices; the best

    of them find much in common. Not only can our civilisations co-exist in our

    respective parts of the world, they can co-exist in the individual heart, as

    they do in mine. We can enrich each other if we choose to embrace our

    essential humanity; we can destroy the world if we choose to stress our

    differences.

     

    · Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson is the director of the US-based Zaytouna Institute

     

    comment@guardian.co.uk

  3. Posted

    Salaams

     

    I didn't want to respond till I've found the answer. Libin, thnks for the research. I don't agree with it, just because I believe Islam honores one's identity. And for an egg to be fertilized you have to look at whether the sources (the sperm& egg)are ligitimate. Everyone has the right to know who their parents are. It's the same thing when it comes to adoption. In Islam, it forbids to change the child's name. There's no doubt that it's emotionally devastating for a woman to find out she's unable to conceive. Alot of sabar (patience) is required and accepting the fact that in certain situations its beyond our control.

     

    Soul Lady, you had me wondering too.....interesting topic.

  7. Posted

    My answer to your q: The Palestinians. I say this because they've been robbed of their land in a forceful manner, and Isreal is denying this fact. The Isrealis need to let go of the occupied territories.

     

    Rahiima: Jerusalem is important to the 3 major religions. How can they all work together to achieve some sort of a peaceful co-existance?

  15. Posted

    I agree with Ahlaan n' Abdinuur.

    In most American family from early on the child is encouraged at the dinner table to talk and express his/her concerns,issues, basically anything on their mind. This enables the child to vocalize his thoughts and hold a discussion. In

    Somali culture, maybe it is encouraged for a man to suppress his emotions b'coz it's seen as a weakness. For example, in America its not seen as weird for a groom to cry in the matrimonial ceremony. Don't expect a somali man to do the same!!! lol

    To sum it up, I believe its a cultural thing.

    ~*Ma'asalaama*~

  17. Posted

    Rock's chick: I know eh, somalis spend way more money on jewelery and furniture than anything else. So why not invest in a good wedding planner who can meet your expectation at the price range that you can afford.

    Personally, I'm bored seeing the same old thing at weddings and it seems to me like every1 is copying the style of another.

    A wedding planner doesn't have to be a person who's foreign to somali culture but one of our own. I think its a good idea. I wouldn't hire a wedding planner, cuz am my own!!! lol.

  19. Posted

    That's sad to read. Many countries are starting to show how inconvient it is for them to take in refugees.

    Shaqsii, if your own country doesn't care about your well being why should others be sympathetic towards you? That's the attitude that's being transmitted nowadays.

  20. Posted

    We do not know precisely how the young Abyssinian girl ended up

    for sale in Makkah. We do not know her 'roots', who her mother

    was, or her father or her ancestors. There were many like her,

    boys and girls, Arabs and non-Arabs, who were captured and

    brought to the slave market of the city to be sold.

     

    A terrible fate awaited some who ended up in the hands of cruel

    masters or mistresses who exploited their labor to the full and

    treated them with the utmost harsh ness.

     

    A few in that inhuman environment were rather more fortunate.

    They were taken into the homes of more gentle and caring

    people.

     

    Barakah, the young Abyssinian girl, was one of the more

    fortunate ones. She was saved by the generous and kind Abdullah,

    the son of Abd al-Muttalib. 'She became the only servant in his

    household and when he was married, to the lady Aminah, she

    looked after her affairs as well.

     

    Two weeks after the couple were married, according to Barakah,

    Abdullah's father came to their house and instructed his son to

    go with a trading caravan that was leaving for Syria. Aminah was

    deeply distressed and cried:

     

    "How strange! How strange! How can my husband go on a trading

    journey to Syria while I am yet a bride and the traces of henna

    are still on my hands."

     

    Abdullah's departure was heartbreaking. In her anguish, Aminah

    fainted. Soon after he left, Barakah said: "When I saw Aminah

    unconscious, I shouted in distress and pain: 'O my lady!' Aminah

    opened her eyes and looked at me with tears streaming down her

    face. Suppressing a groan she said: "Take me to bed, Barakah."

     

    "Aminah stayed bedridden for a long time. She spoke to no one.

    Neither did she look at anyone who visited her except Abd

    al-Muttalib, that noble and gentle old man. "Two months after

    the departure of Abdullah, Aminah called me at dawn one morning

    and, her face beaming with joy, she said to me:

     

    "O Barakah! I have seen a strange dream." "Something good, my

    lady," I said.

     

    "I saw lights coming from my abdomen lighting up the

     

    mountains, the hills and the valleys around Makkah." "Do you

    feel pregnant, my lady?"

     

    "Yes, Barakah," she replied. "But I do not feel any discomfort

    as other women feel." "You shall give birth to a blessed child

    who will bring goodness," I said.

     

    So long as Abdullah was away, Aminah remained sad and

    melancholic. Barakah stayed at her side trying to comfort her

    and make her cheerful by talking to her and relating stories.

    Aminah however became even more distressed when Abd al-Muttalib

    came and told her she had to leave her home and go to the

    mountains as other Makkans had done because of an impending

    attack on the city by the ruler of Yemen, someone called

    Abrahah. Aminah told him that she was too grief-striken and weak

    to leave for the mountains but insisted that Abrahah could never

    enter Makkah and destroy the Kabah because it was protected by

    the Lord. Abd al-Muttalib became very agitated but there was no

    sign of fear on Aminah's face. Her confidence that the Kabah

    would not be harmed was well-founded. Abrahah's army with an

    elephant in the vanguard was destroyed before it could enter

    Makkah.

     

    Day and night, Barakah stayed beside Aminah. She said: "I slept

    at the foot of her bed and heard her groans at night as she

    called for her absent husband. Her moans would awaken me and I

    would try to comfort her and give her courage."

     

    The first part of the caravan from Syria returned and was

    joyously welcomed by the trading families of Makkah. Barakah

    went secretly to the house of Abd al-Muttalib to find out about

    Abdullah but had no news of him. She went back to Aminah but did

    not tell her what she had seen or heard in order not to distress

    her. The entire caravan eventually returned but not with

    Abdullah.

     

    Later, Barakah was at Abd al-Muttalib's house when news came

    from *Yathrib that Abdullah had died. She said: "I screamed when

    I heard the news. I don't know what I did after that except that

    I ran to Aminah's house shouting, lamenting for the absent one

    who would never return, lamenting for the beloved one for whom

    we waited so long, lamenting for the most beautiful youth of

    Makkah, for Abdullah, the pride of the Quraysh.

     

    "When Aminah heard the painful news, she fainted and I stayed by

    her bedside while she was in a state between life and death.

    There was no one else but me in Aminah's house. I nursed her and

    looked after her during the day and through the long nights

    until she gave birth to her child, "Muhammad", on a night in

    which the heavens were resplendent with the light of God."

     

    When Muhammad was born, Barakah was the first to hold him in her

    arms. His grandfather came and took him to the Kabah and with

    all Makkah, celebrated his birth. Barakah stayed with Aminah

    while Muhammad was sent to the badiyah with the lady Halimah who

    looked after him in the bracing atmosphere of the open desert.

    At the end of five years, he was brought back to Makkah and

    Aminah received him with tenderness and love and Barakah

    welcomed him "with joy, longing and admiration".

     

    When Muhammad was six years old, his mother decided to visit the

    grave of her husband, Abdullah, in Yathrib. Both Barakah and Abd

    al-Muttalib tried to dissuade her. Aminah however was

    determined. So one morning they set off- Aminah, Muhammad and

    Barakah huddled together in a small hawdaj mounted on a large

    camel, part of a huge caravan that was going to Syria. In order

    to shield the tender child from any pain and worry, Aminah did

    not tell Muhammad that she was going to visit the grave of his

    father.

     

    The caravan went at a brisk pace. Barakah tried to console

    Aminah for her son's sake and much of the time the boy Muhammad

    slept with his arms around Barakah's neck.

     

    The caravan took ten days to reach Yathrib. The boy Muhammad was

    left with his maternal uncles of the Banu Najjar while Aminah

    went to visit the grave of Abdullah. Each day for a few weeks

    she stayed at the grave. She was consumed by grief.

     

    On the way back to Makkah, Aminah became seriously ill with

    fever. Halfway between Yathrib and Makkah, at a place called

    al-Abwa, they stopped. Aminah's health deteriorated rapidly. One

    pitch dark night, she was running a high temperature. The fever

    had got to her head and she called out to Barakah in a choking

    voice.

     

    Barakah related: "She whispered in my ear: 'O Barakah, I shall

    depart from this world shortly. I commend my son Muhammad to

    your care. He lost his father while he was in my abdomen. Here

    he is now, losing his mother under his very eyes. Be a mother to

    him, Barakah. And don't ever leave him.'

     

    "My heart was shattered and I began to sob and wail. The child

    was distressed by my wailing and began to weep. He threw himself

    into his mother's arms and held tightly onto her neck. She gave

    one last moan and then was forever silent."

     

    Barakah wept. She wept bitterly. With her own hands she dug a

    grave in the sand and buried Aminah, moistening the grave with

    whatever tears were left in her heart. Barakah returned with the

    orphan child to Makkah and placed him in the care of his

    grandfather. She stayed at his house to look after him. When Abd

    al-Muttalib died two years later, she went with the child to the

    house of his uncle Abu Talib and continued to look after his

    needs until he was grown up and married the lady Khadijah.

     

    Barakah then stayed with Muhammad and Khadijah in a house

    belonging to Khadijah. "I never left him and he never left me,"

    she said. One day Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him

    peace, called out to her and said: "Ya Ummah!" (He always called

    her "Mother".) "Now I am a married man, and you are still

    unmarried. What do you think if someone should come now and ask

    to marry you?" Barakah looked at Muhammad and said: "I shall

    never leave you. Does a mother abandon her son?" Muhammad smiled

    and kissed her head. He looked at his wife Khadijah and said to

    her: "This is Barakah. This is my mother after my own mother.

    She is the rest of my family."

     

    Barakah looked at the lady Khadijah who said to her: "Barakah,

    you have sacrificed your youth for the sake of Muhammad. Now he

    wants to pay back some of his obligations to you. For my sake

    and his, agree to be married before old age overtakes you."

     

    "Whom shall I marry, my lady?" asked Barakah. "There is here now

    Ubayd ibn Zayd from the Khazraj tribe of Yathrib. He has come to

    us seeking your hand in marriage. For my sake, don't refuse."

     

    Barakah agreed. She married Ubayd ibn Zayd and went with him to

    Yathrib. There she gave birth to a son whom she called Ayman and

    from that time onwards people called her "Umm Ayman" the mother

    of Ayman.

     

    Her marriage however did not last very long. Her husband died

    and she returned once more to Makkah to live with her "son"

    Muhammad in the house of the lady Khadijah. Living in the same

    household at the time were Ali ibn Abi Talib, Hind (Khadijah's

    daughter by her first husband), and Zayd ibn Harithah.

     

    Zayd was an Arab from the tribe of Kalb who was captured as a

    boy and brought to Makkah to be sold in the slave market. He was

    bought by Khadijah's nephew and put in her service. In

    Khadijah's household, Zayd became attached to Muhammad and

    devoted himself to his service. Their relationship was like that

    of a son to a father. Indeed when Zayd's father came to Makkah

    in search of him, Zayd was given the choice by Muhammad of

    either going with his father or staying with him. Zayd's reply

    to his father was:

     

    "I shall never leave this man. He has treated me nobly, as a

    father would treat his son. Not a single day have I felt that I

    am a slave. He has looked after me well. He is kind and loving

    towards me and strives for my enjoyment and happiness. He is the

    most noble of men and the greatest person in creation. How can I

    leave him and go with you?...I shall never leave him."

     

    Later, in public Muhammad proclaimed the freedom of Zayd.

    However, Zayd continued to live with him as part of his

    household and devoted himself to his service.

     

    When Muhammad was blessed with prophethood, Barakah and Zayd

    were among the first to believe in the message he proclaimed.

    They bore with the early Muslims the persecution which the

    Quraysh meted out to them.

     

    Barakah and Zayd performed invaluable services to the mission of

    the Prophet. They acted as part of an intelligence service

    exposing themselves to the persecution and punishment of the

    Quraysh and risking their lives to gain information on the plans

    and conspiracies of the mushrikin.

     

    One night the mushrikun blocked off the roads leading to the

    House of al-Arqam where the Prophet gathered his companions

    regularly to instruct them in the teachings of Islam. Barakah

    had some urgent information from Khadijah which had to be

    conveyed to the Prophet. She risked her life trying to reach the

    House of al-Arqam. When she arrived and conveyed the message to

    the Prophet, he smiled and said to her:

     

    "You are blessed, Umm Ayman. Surely you have a place in

    Paradise." When Umm Ayman left, the Prophet looked at his

    companions and asked: "Should one of you desire to marry a woman

    from the people of Paradise, let him marry Umm Ayman."

     

    Ali the companions remained silent and did not utter a word. Umm

    Ayman was neither beautiful nor attractive. She was by now about

    fifty years old and looked rather frail. Zayd ibn al-Harithah

    however came forward and said:

     

    "Messenger of Allah, I shall marry Umm Ayman. By Allah, she is

    better than women who have grace and beauty."

     

    Zayd and Umm Ayman were married and were blessed with a son whom

    they named Usamah. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant

    him peace, loved Usamah as his own son. Often he played with

    him, kissed him and fed him with his own hands. The Muslims

    would say: "He is the beloved son of the beloved." From an early

    age Usamah distinguished himself in the service of lslam, and

    was later given weighty responsibilities by the Prophet.

     

    When the Prophet migrated to Yathrib, henceforth to be known as

    al-Madinah, he left Umm Ayman behind in Makkah to look after

    certain special affairs in his household. Eventually she

    migrated to Madinah on her own. She made the long and difficult

    journey through the desert and mountainous terrain on foot. The

    heat was killing and sandstorms obscured the way but she

    persisted, borne along by her deep love and attachment for

    Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. When she

    reached Madinah, her feet were sore and swollen and her face was

    covered with sand and dust.

     

    "Ya Umm Ayman! Ya Ummi! (O Umm Ayman! O my mother!) Indeed for

    you is a place in Paradise!" exclaimed the Prophet when he saw

    her. He wiped her face and eyes, massaged her feet and rubbed

    her shoulders with his kind and gentle hands.

     

    At Madinah, Umm Ayman played her full part in the affairs of the

    Muslims. At Uhud she distributed water to the thirsty and tended

    the wounded. She accompanied the Prophet on some expeditions, to

    Khaybar and Hunayn for example.

     

    Her son Ayman, a devoted companion of the Prophet was martyred

    at Hunayn in the eighth year after the Hijrah. Barakah's

    husband, Zayd, was killed at the Battle of Mutah in Syria after

    a lifetime of distinguished service to the Prophet and Islam.

    Barakah at this time was about seventy years old and spent much

    of her time at home. The Prophet, accompanied by Abu Bakr and

    Umar often visited her and asked: "Ya Ummi! Are you well?" and

    she would reply: "I am well, O Messenger of Allah so long as

    Islam is."

     

    After the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had

    died, Barakah would often be found with tears in her eyes. She

    was once asked, "Why are you crying?" and she replied: "By

    Allah, I knew that the Messenger of Allah would die but I cry

    now because the revelation from on high has come to an end for

    us."

     

    Barakah was unique in that she was the only one who was so close

    to the Prophet throughout his life from birth till death. Her

    life was one of selfless service in the Prophet's household. She

    remained deeply devoted to the person of the noble, gentle and

    caring Prophet. Above all, her devotion to the religion of Islam

    was strong and unshakable. She died during the caliphate of

    Uthman. Her roots were unknown but her place in Paradise was

    assured.

    *Yathrib is also known as the city of Madina

     

    source: http://www.jannah.org/sisters/barakah.html

  21. Posted

    Ilhaam: That was pleasant to read and share the message with us. Jazakallah.

    Indhadeeq: Girl, am with u too........let's start accumulating the ajar by starting to do the simplest things like smiling. smile.gif

  22. Posted

    I gotta admit that was funny.

    Yet, I don't appreciate somalis calling muslim sisters who happen to wear the hijaab a certain way a "ninja". I think its rude and disrespectful.

    Concerned sista: I don't believe that most Somali sisters wear hijaab because they can't take care of themselves. That a stereotype. I've ran into ladies who don't wear hijaab smelling funky, unsi and catar radiating from a mile away.

     

    Taqwa: Wow, yet again your wordings are harsh towards your sisters. To my understanding there's a difference btwn a non-practicing muslim and a hypocrite. A sister who knows the order of Allah and doesn't follow it for reasons known to her is not our business to judge but Allah. But a munafiiq is a person who knows and preaches it to others what's right n' what's wrong yet don't follow what they preach. You get me? I could be wrong. Yet you have no right condemning all the non-hijaabi sisters hypocrites. I have a question: when you said " My somali brothers, your better off marrying those adoons who are muslims " exactly what did u mean by that comment? I believe that's a racist comment, especially toward a specific group of people who happened to be muslims!! where is your sense of Ummah? Please check yourself.

    Ma'asalaama

  23. Posted

    "There is $6 Trillion dollars worth of oil in the Caspian Sea area. Isn't that strange?" BINGO!!!

     

    That's what it comes down to. I always believed that America goes to war for its own interest. These scandals will come out in 50 years or so, when it's too late cuz teh American public is too dumb to see what its government is doing.