Yvonne Ridley Explains Why She Converted to Islam

Response to emails defaming Islam

Response to emails defaming Islam  

Emails have been doing the rounds maligning Islam and its views on marriage and accusing Muslims of being intent on killing non-Muslims (which cannot be further from the truth)

Below is a response that was sent from a Muslim

A response to emails defaming Islam

We begin with the name of Allaah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Introduction

Perhaps it’s will be easier to start by saying something about Islam and some of its fundamental teaching, then insha-Allaah we will address some specifics.

Islam is built/centred on five principles; the absence of any one of these pillars is not permissible.

1. The declaration of faith, i.e. To bear witness that there is no deity to be worshipped except Allaah, and to bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His final messenger.

2. To be steadfast in prayer (i.e. to prayer five times daily at appointed times)

3. To give alms (a set wealth/social tax for those able to do so – i.e. amounts to 2.5%)

4. To fast in the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the lunar calendar)

5. To undertake the pilgrimage (to Mecca) – one in one’s lifetime – if one is Able and By the Means to go.  

Expanding on this we look at some basic principles of faith, that is one is required as the basis of faith within.

1. To believe in Allaah

2. To believe in His angels

3. To believe in holy revealed books (e.g. the Zaboor of David, the scrolls of Abraham, the Torah of Moses, the Gospel of Jesus and the final revelation being Quran – peace be upon all Prophets)

4. To believe in the prophets (peace be upon them all – all includes the names mentioned above)

5. To believe in the Hereafter (i.e. life after death as in heaven and hell)

6. To believe that Allaah has permitted the good and the bad (He has given humans the ability to distinguish from right and wrong, each action though carrying a consequence) 

It is important to further note that we are all answerable to Him who has created us all. Ridicule, lies and defamation has been the order of the day since time immemorial and will be for time to come. There was not a Prophet sent by Almighty Allaah, but that he underwent hardship of some sort another.

But let us quickly reflect on our worship of One God, Allah. He is One and there is none like Him. This Lord, The Creator of all, being unique, being perfect, He perfected our way of life, Islam. This Perfect Creator who is One has seen it fit that His worshippers, the believers, are one in their worship. Not only do all Muslims accept the five pillars of Islam, but taking one pillar as example of perfection and unity, we only have to look at daily prayers. There is not a moment in a 24-hour day, but someone somewhere in the world is praying one of the five compulsory prayers. Every prayer is to one central point at Mecca. Every prayer is to Mecca whether you face east, west, south or north. Perfectly, as people pray all over the world facing Mecca, the central point of earth,  a circle is formed. While this circle is formed from every point of the world, people inside the Holy Mosque in Mecca are creating smaller circles as they circumambulate the central point, the ka’abah, 24/7. Perfection indeed. Unity indeed. Oneness indeed. And He, Allah, is One.

So it is not surprising then, that this Lord who commanded us with prayer, should declare at the beginning of Quran:

This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allaah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allaah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)]. [Quran 2:2]

So this Perfect Lord, God, Creator, Nourisher, Cherisher and Sustainer,  have chosen for us a way of life, Islam – a perfect way of life. He sent is guidance through Quran having chosen Muhammad (peace be upon him) to deliver this message. He, Allah, has not left out anything in Quran.  So the true and sincere person will find the answer in Quran.

If we take some examples of issues non-Muslim have raised, then we thank the Almighty for this blessing and giving us an opportunity to draw closer to Him via His book, Quran. It is this book that we seek the guidance and answers. The life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is nothing but the embodiment of Quran and thus we may quote from his example to clarify aspects of Quran.

Marriage

Marriage in Islam is sacred and the Quran strongly warns against adultery by declaring: “And come not near to unlawful sex [zina]. Verily, it is a Faahishah (i.e. anything that transgresses its limits: a great sin, and an evil way that leads one to hell unless Allaah Forgives him)” [Quran: 17:32] 

The Quran further exhorts us to marry and says: “...then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three, or four...”[ Quran 4:3]

“… and live with them honourably …” [al-Nisaa’ 4:19],

Temporary marriages forbidden From ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib: that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade temporary marriage to women and the flesh of donkeys at the time of Khaybar. This was narrated by al-Tirmidhi

Bride’s permission important Both the bride and groom should be pleased with one another, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No previously-married woman (widow or divorcee) may be married until she has been asked about her wishes (i.e., she should state clearly her wishes), and no virgin should be married until her permission has been asked (i.e., until she has agreed either in words or by remaining silent).” They asked, “O Messenger of Allaah, how is her permission given (because she will feel very shy)?” He said: “By her silence.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 4741)

The dowry belongs to the woman, the wife and NOT to her family

“And give to the women (whom you marry) their mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart…” [al-Nisaa’ 4:4] 

Conclusion on marriage: 

The picture, showing Palestinian girls, in the email is one where the writer has most probably taken liberties with his “caption” (the picture shows small girls dressed in white walking alongside men dressed like “bridegrooms” – the story relates these men marrying these children en masse). If this caption/story was true then many a wedding in the west will have similar captions when little girls dress up as part of the bridal group or party.  In the west, are these girls ther brides? Likewise, it is common practice for girls to be part of the bridal entourage while dressed in white similar to the real bride.
 

Aside from this, the other comments may indeed confuse religion and regional culture and thus there is little need to elaborate on these. The above stance on marriage as explained from Quran and Sunnah (the practical life example of the Prophet Muhammad –peace be upon him- based on Quran)

Murder or war

"Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loves not transgressors. And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have

turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them

not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight

you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith. But if they cease,

God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. And fight them on until there is no more

tumult or oppression, and there prevails justice and faith in God; but if they

cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression" (Quran 2:190-193).

Islam permits warfare and most definitely permits self-defence. Murder of innocent people is not permitted. Killing people merely because of being non-Muslim is not acceptable and Islam opposes this.

Conclusion

In any society and any religion, there are people who overstep the mark for whatever reason.

In any society and any religion there are people who speak and do things out ignorance

In many societies and religions people follow their own custom irrespective whether that is acceptable or not. 

The internet, be it websites or email, can be dangerous and misleading. It is an easy platform to spread whatever people want to spread, of good and bad.

As Muslims, especially South Africans, we humbly apologise for not having done enough to advise on our religion, our way of life.  We are aware of many of these types of emails going around. We are more than satisfied with our religion, Islam as our way of life. Like secular people also attack Christianity (and its various denominations, so too do they attack Islam. Islam, being the perfect way of life, is the fastest growing religion in the world. Europe is on the brink of having a Muslim country. While Barack Obama is most definitely NOT a Muslim, Islam is alive and well in the United States. Again, as Muslims we fail in propagating our religion. But this is the religion of Allaah, and Allaah has ordained that the truth shall be superior to falsehood – Islam will be superior.

Wikileaks

Wikileaks – well, I don’t generally agree with it. If it is meant for people to be warned about “bad” people then there might be some merit in it. The reality though is that we can do nothing about it, the majority of people are not can realize the truth even though it’s pretty much a case of “I told you so”. Also the leaks seem to be fairly broad, silly at times and the potential for unnecessary further harm.

I suppose that leads me to express concern of the bad or negative side of technology.. well with fb, twitter and the many other instant messaging. And all these platforms talk to each other, so put something on fb and that becomes a tweet and not forgetting the MSN users also being kept in the loop.

One can read about what someone had for breakfast .. to aaaaahhhh … crime.. so people can tweet and fb, etc about crimes these days … and it seems all pretty normal … so not only are these platforms anti-social in the first instance since people (and especially the very young) don’t know how to communicate face to face .. is this what we want? But the things that are made public is in itself anti-social.

Yes, there is much good in technology … but it has many dangers.. and as with saying safe driving, safe flight, etc … its safe surfing.

Say (O Muslims), "We believe in Allâh and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrâhim (Abraham), Ismâ'il (Ishmael), Ishâq (Isaac), Ya'qûb (Jacob), and to Al-Asbât [the offspring twelve sons of Ya'qûb (Jacob)], and that which has been given to Mûsa (Moses) and Isâ (Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islâm)."

Quran2:136

Pride and deception

Pride and deception  Man was created pure and was endowed with the knowledge that there is a Creator. This Creator is the one who taught man the nature of all things. Man knows and always knew that life was we know it is temporary and that the real life will be after this life. While atheist will have us believe differently, that discussion we will leave for another time. The three Abrahamic religions are all in agreement that Adam (peace be upon him) was the first human being. There is a difference of understanding to what happened next – that too we can discuss further another time. I would like to rather elaborate on two aspects which resulted in man, Adam and his wife, Eve, being evicted from “paradise”.  All creation was created for no other purpose but to worship their Lord and Created, Allaah. Two creations though were granted an ability not given to others, viz the ability to sin, to be disobedient and to act on the differentiation of good and evil,viz man and jinn(i)/genie. So the Almighty Allaah creates man, Adam – peace be upon him. He teaches him the nature of all things. He calls the angels and asks them the names of these things. They cannot answer simply because they were not taught it. Allaah Almighty, in His infinite wisdom, lets Adam tell them. Then he commands the angels present to prostrate before Adam. Amongst them were jinni (genie) One such jinn was Iblees who refused and was haughty. Aah .. he felt superior. So this attribute/characteristic is not one of subservience and obedience but rather is one such that the being, with the feeling of superiority, will do much to protect this superiority. This being will sin and challenge even his Creator. So this lack of superiority is then transformed into that evil called envy. Wikipedia: Envy (also called invidiousness) is best defined as an emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it." Iblees, shaytaan, satan – is given a reprieve till the end (the day of Judgment) during which time he vows to mislead humans. Thus, it is evident that this trait called envy, is a trait of Satan. He is the one, with his cohorts. He toys with man and offers his services whereby he can do things which may seem nigh impossible and which will seemingly elevate the person using his services. He dupes this person to believe that he, satan, has knowledge beyond the realm of possibility (something simply called the “unseen”). So man falls for it and removes himself from the obedience of Allaah, his creator. He, man, now is so confused that he believes evil is good and mocks the real good. He slanders, maligns and uses the deception that satan taught him, to break what is good. He drives families apart through this deception, lies upon lies, and backbiting. We find this too often that in some communities people pay lots of money for their involvement in this. These evils range from anything from fortune-telling to séance to witchcraft. Satan is evil and he trains his “users” well. They really being high on him. They are masters at deception and for most hard to detect. They lie so well that even the listener may be duped into believing it’s the truth. So this arrangement between man and the evil one, satan, is such that the man believes he is in control, when in fact satan cannot be controlled by man.. at best he can be repelled. These devious people in turn manipulate events and situations such that innocent parties are impacted. They whisper untruths or near-truths to one party and thus create suspicion of a third party. They ask leading questions such that may create suspicion or lead one to say something which can be deliberately misquoted. they egg people on to argue a point or to raise an issue such that there will be bad blood They contrive situations such that one party feels cornered to the degree that this second party looks to have done a wrong. Pride, Superiority and envy are three most dangerous characteristics. We often hear and see these acts of deception in spy sagas. These acts of deception are also often prevalent in personal situations. O you who believe! If a Fasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done. Quran 49:6 O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting)[] . And fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful.  O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allâh is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqûn (pious - see V.2:2). Verily, Allâh is All-Knowing, All-Aware. Quran 49:12-13 Devious people destroy families and friendships and care not for their own lives are in a mess (and then even that they don’t understand). Their joy is in their evil and seeing others fight and suffer. But truth will always surface and trust is always superior. These people may see truth in their lives and still not understand But, no doubt, on that great day, the day of accountability and reckoning, the truth will be apparent for all to see. May the Almighty protect from such evil.

Thoughts

My thoughts are mine, it’s who I am, it’s me and It’s all I have – a wise man recently told me.

That certainly holds true even in the face of confusion, accusations and manipulation. How one reacts is certainly a rather good indication of one’s strength (or otherwise) of character.

This world is filled with a level of negativity that even so-called positive people don’t realize when their comments are having the wrong, the negative impact on people. Sometimes people’s humour may be too extreme. This is often prevalent where profanity is used even seemingly innocently. Another time is when people mock others and claim a right to this for various reasons from the person being mocked is a public person or “no harm” is intended. Yet, the mind absorbs much and unless you have a super filter, those negative, immoral thoughts sit right there. These thoughts become the seed for a character building. What can one do with these thoughts; nothing but the continuation of more mockery or further ill-thoughts of others. This is where society is at large; a really disheartening thought.

So lets turn it positive. Share a thought a day in how you can and are making a difference in someone’s life. Be enquiring, without being nosy, as to the well-being of your family members, neighbours, colleagues, the “Argus” boy, etc.

We live in a so-called rainbow nation but we know little of each other. This leads us to comment on issues without understanding. So let us learn from each other and build a community.

Reach out and build. Build something positive for we will be party to the ruins of ourselves if we don’t build something real.

Make your thought count for something good!!!

#abutameem 

Burn the Quran? rather accept its teachings

Islam and Muslims have been renewed targets with the excuse to bomb Afghanistan and Iraq, the banning of the burqa and now the burning of the Quran. Alhamdulillah - Praise be to God Almighty, Allaah, as He would have it that Christians (and other non-Muslims) are doing a great job in converting people to Islam. For indeed the truth must be and will be victorious and so, in trying to villify Islam and Muslims, the truth has reached many people. People are entering Islam in their droves - having been made aware of the religion of the great prophets such as Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus (peace be upon them all)

Here are some clips of people who have accepted the True Religion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOuQDHKsyX4&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l8EOvBIYQA&feature=related
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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCzqRV6n1f8&feature=grec_browse
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-gYMtYeAdE&feature=grec_browse

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khjtrIkYU5I&feature=more_related

Honour the Miracle

Honour the Miracle



Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)." Quran 2:136


Say: "Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between” Quran 17:110



The Quran was revealed as an oral text. Thus from day 1 that Quran was revealed upon man and over the ages, the Quran was firmly entrenched in the hearts of men and women who have memorized every letter of the glorious book.


Quran was revealed upon a nation who excelled in language and eloquence at the time. These people too memorized poetry as the order of the day. So while this revelation, being the word of the Creator, the Almighty, was easily memorized, yet the sheer language of the Quran was overwhelming to these people.


And when people did not accept it as the word of Allaah, and tried to imitate its message and wording, the Almighty challenged them (and the challenge still stands) to produce even a chapter like Quran. The eloquence of Quran and its message is in itself proof of it being the words and revelation of a superior being.


The Quran was revealed an Arabic Quran and thus, while a translation helps a non-arabic speaking person to get some understanding of Quran, the power and essence of Quran remains in the rich Arabic language.


The Almighty sent Prophets over time to specific people/nations and for specific reasons, yet Quran is for all time. It’s a living miracle. As for the miracles of previous Prophets, these were for that instant in time and remains in history. Yet, the miracle of Quran, if for no other reason, is the only book memorized from cover to cover by millions of people all over the world, both Arabic and non-arabic speaking people.


In it, in Quran one finds the essence of the power, the wisdom, the eloquence, the knowledge of Allaah.


Currently, it is the month of Ramadan for Muslims. It is also the month in which the Quran was revealed. It is for this reason that Muslim are required to fast between pre-dawn and sunset for a period of 29-30days. So we fast to honour Quran and show gratitude to our Creator for this mercy. The mercy of the Almighty was beyond even our imagination, but it is important to love Him even when we sometimes don’t understand.


From Allaah we come and to Him we will return.



Ta-Ha

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful


1. Ta - Ha [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'ân, and none but Allâh (Alone) knows their meanings.]


2. We have not sent down the Qur'ân unto you (O Muhammad SAW) to cause you distress,
3. But only as a Reminder to those who fear (Allâh).

4. A revelation from Him (Allâh) Who has created the earth and high heavens.
5. The Most Gracious (Allâh) rose over (Istawâ) the (Mighty) Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty).


6. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and all that is between them, and all that is under the soil.


7. And if you (O Muhammad SAW) speak (the invocation) aloud, then verily, He knows the secret and that which is yet more hidden.


8. Allâh! Lâ ilâhla illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He)! To Him belong the Best Names[]
Quran 20: 1-8

Allah will guide

Allah will guide




Verily the religion (rather "way of life")by Allah is Islam.

 Islam is the religion of Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all). They taught the worship of the One True God - Allah

 see link of Priest's reversion to Islam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fngpSQzvsUM&NR=1

 This is but the tip of the iceberg... Those who study Islam will no doubt know its truth.