Torontoist: PhotoTO: The Mourning of Husayn ibn Ali

A procession marking the Mourning of Muharram took place Sunday in Toronto. This annual event during Muharram—the first month of the Islamic calendar—marks the anniversary of the death of Husayn ibn Ali, an important Shia Imam. The particular part of the event captured in these photographs shows how devout men repeatedly strike their chests in remembrance of Imam Husayn and his suffering.

Participate in a Ring of Knowledge

Video Ya imama rosli - Hassan haffar - rochdi, kanun, hassan, haffar, anachid - Dailymotion Share Your Videos

Video Tala3a el badro alayna - Hassan haffar - rochdi, kanun, hafar, haffar, festival - Dailymotion

Hadra with Shaykh Diya’ - Rabbani Residence - Sufi group dhikr - Remembrance of Allah

WARNING!!!!to al my beloved brothers and sisters in ISLAM,watch out for this shaykh Rabbani!!!!!!!!!his methodolygie,tahweed,aqeedah have been corrupted!!!!believe me he is not from the ahl e sunnah but preaches a very mystical form of Islam!!VERIFY yourself

– A comment from a “concerned” brother.

The dhikr is, in fact, from pure tawhid and sound understanding of aqida. Islam, Iman, and Ihsan.

The Radical Middle Way - Home

Being a Real Man; Is there a Crisis of Authority in Islam?; Alienated
Youth or Outdated Institutions?; Becoming Scholars: The Challenge of
Being Classical and Relevant; Spiritual Awakening, Reaching Muslim 2.0:
Community Development for a Wired Urban Generation; The Most Sacred
Places: The Spiritual Dimensions of Pilgrimage and Hip Hop Islam? A
Discussion on Urban Music and Community Development.

see details...

Also:

• 
  Sidi Rami Nashashibi
• 
  Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Radical Middle Way:
Audio - Lectures

Video - Lectures

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf :: English transcript

From Protest to Engagement - transcripts and videos

The Radical Middle Way is pleased to present the first of all upcoming transcripts from our February event, From Protest to Engagement.

To LISTEN to the audio recording of Shaykh Abdal-Hakim Murad’s lecture in London click here.

To READ the transcript of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s speech, please click here, to LISTEN to the audio, click here or to WATCH the video, broadcast on Islam Channel, click here.

To LISTEN to the audio recording of Imam Suhaib’s lecture in London (his lecture in Bradford will be uploaded in due course) click here or to WATCH the video, click here.

To watch the video of Habib Ali al-Jifri’s lecture in London (his lecture in Bradford will be uploaded in due course), click here.

New Islamic Directions 

In this recording Imam Zaid answers some questions that were asked by attendees at the recent Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference.

et - Full Story

Coming from America’s Bible Belt to the halls of Al-Azhar, this young imam wants to combine the best of both worlds in Islam

Fiqh of Islamic Months: The Month of Muharram
Faraz Rabbani

1. It is the best of months for general voluntary fasts, after Ramadan.

2. It is especially recommended to fast the 10^th of Muharram (known
as the Day of `Ashura’), with a day before it or after it. [Ibn Abidin, Radd
al-Muhtar, quoting Kasani’s al-Bada’i`]

 3. It is also virtuous to give in charity on this day.

 Extracts from Ibn Rajab’s Lata’if al-Ma`arif, regarding the
month of Muharram:

The Virtues of Fasting in the Month of Muharram and Its First Ten Days

Muslim reported from Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet
(Allah bless him and give him peace) said , “The best of fasts after the month
of Ramadan are in the Month of Allah, which you call Muharram. And the best
of prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.” [Muslim, 1163]

This refers to general voluntary fasts according to Imam Ibn Rajab (Allah
have mercy on him): These are best in the month of Muharram, just as the best
general voluntary prayer is night prayer.

The virtue and honor of this month can be attested to by the fact that the
Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) called it, ‘the Month of Allah.’
(Shahr Allah) Such ascription is only made by Allah to the most special
of His creation, such as the ascription of the Prophets Muhammad, Ibrahim, Ishaq,
Ya`qub, and others to his slavehood (Allah’s peace and blessings be on them
all), and His ascription of the House (Ka`ba) and the camel to himself.

Given that Allah ascribed fasting, between all spiritual works, to Himself
[saying, “It is Mine,”] it was suitable that this month, which is also ascribed
to Allah, be selected for this particular form of worship.

Fasting is a secret between the servant and his Lord. This is why Allah Mighty
and Exalted says, [in the divine hadith (hadith qudsi)], “ Every action of the
son of Adam is his, except for fasting. It is Mine, and it is I who reward it.” [Bukhari
and Muslim, from Abu Hurayra]

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) also said, “The fasting
person has two joys: one when he breaks his fast, and the other when he meets
his Lord.”[Muslim]

Night Prayer

As for voluntary night prayer (qiyam al-layl), it is superior to voluntary
prayer during the day because it is closer to secrecy, and nearer to sincerity
(ikhlas).

Allah Most High said, “Lo! the vigil of the night is (a time) when impression
is more keen and speech more certain.” [Qur’an, 73.9]

This is because the time of the night vigil (tahajjud) is the best of times
for voluntary prayer, and the closest a servant gets to his Lord. It is a time
when the doors of the skies are opened, supplications answered, and needs fulfilled.

Allah Most High has praised those who wake up at night in His remembrance,
supplication, seeking forgiveness, and intimate entreating (munajat), saying,
“Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of
that We have bestowed on them. No soul knows what is kept hid for them of joy,
as a reward for what they used to do.”[Qur’an, 32.16-17]

And, “Or he who pays adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and
standing, bewaring of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord? Say:
Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only those of understanding
will pay heed.” [Qur’an, 39.9]

And He said to His Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace), “And some
part of the night awake for it, as voluntary worship for you. It may be that
thy Lord will raise thee to a praised estate.” [Qur’an, 17.79]

It has been said that those who worship at night will enter Paradise without
reckoning, and that standing in night prayer shortens the length of one’s Standing
on the Day of Judgment.

This is why the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, “Stick to
night prayer, for it was the way of the righteous before you. Night prayer is
a means of closeness to Allah Most High, of expiating for bad deeds, avoiding
sins, and keeping away illness from one’s body.” [Tirmidhi (3543], Bayhaqi, and
others; it is a sound (hasan) hadith]

Similarly, it has been related that fasting is a means for good health. The
Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) is reported to have said, “Fast,
and you shall have good health.” [Ahmad, from Abu Hurayra]

Lovers have no time more joyous than when they are alone in entreating their
Beloved. This is the healing for their hearts, and the great thing that they
could long for.

This is why Abu Sulayman al-Darani would say, “The people of the night find
more joy than the people of distraction (lahw) in their distractions. Were it
not for the night, I would not like to remain living.”

The Day of `Ashura’: The Tenth of Muharram

It is mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with
him and his father) that he was asked about fasting the Day of `Ashura’ [10<sup>th</sup>
of Muharram]. He said, “I did not see the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace be upon him) fast a day while more avid to seek its virtue than this day,”
meaning the Day of `Ashura’.” [Bukhari (2006), and Muslim (1132)].

The Day of `Ashura’ has great virtue, and tremendous sanctity (hurma). The
virtue of fasting it was known among the Prophets (peace be upon them all).
Both Prophet Nuh and Prophet Musa (peace be upon them both) fasted it.

The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) used to fast this day even
in Mecca, though he had not yet ordered others to do so, as mentioned in both
Bukhari and Muslim. [Bukhari (2002), Muslim (1125)]

When he migrated to Medina, and found the People of the Book fasting this
day and venerating it, he ordered the Muslims to fast it, and encouraged it
so much that even the children would fast it.

It has been reported in both Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Abbas (Allah be
pleased with him), that, “When the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be
upon him) reached Medina, he found the Jews fasting the Day of `Ashura’, so
he asked them, ‘What is this day you are fasting?’ They said, ‘This is a tremendous
day. Allah saved Musa and his people on this day and drowned Pharaoh and his
people. Musa fasted it out of thanks, so we fast it too.’ The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace be upon him) said, ‘And we are more deserving of Musa than
you are.’ So he fasted this day, and ordered that it be fasted.” [Bukhari (2004)
and Muslim (1130)]

At the end of his life, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon
him) made the determination not to fast this day alone, but with another day
[f: either before or after it], in order to be different from the People of
the Book.

It has been reported in the Sahih of Imam Muslim (Allah have mercy
on him), also from Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) that, “When the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) fasted the Day of `Ashura’ and ordered
his companions to fast it, they said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! This is a day that
the Jews and Christians venerate.’ So the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace be upon him) said, ‘When next year comes – if Allah wills – we will fast
the Ninth [of Muharram with it].’ But the next year did not come before the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) passed away.” [Muslim (1134),
Abu Dawud (2445)]

And it is reported in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (Allah have mercy on
him), from Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless
him and give him peace) said, “Fast the Day of `Ashura’ and be different from
the Jews by fasting a day before it or a day after it.” [Ahmad]

Giving in Charity on the Day of `Ashura’

It has been reported from Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As (Allah be pleased
with him), that “Whoever fasts `Ashura’ it is as if he has fasted the entire
year. And whoever gives charity this day it is like the charity of an entire
year.”

Mourning on the 10^th of Muharram is an Innovation

As for the mourning and grieving of the Shiah on this day because of the
martyrdom of Sayyiduna Husayn ibn Ali (Allah be pleased with him and his father),
this is of the actions of those whose actions in this life are misguided while
they think that they are doing well. Neither Allah Most High nor His Messenger
(Allah bless him & give him peace) commanded us to mourn on the days of the
tribulations of the Prophets, or their deaths, let alone anyone else.

[F: The fuqaha have mentioned that it is an innovation to consider Muharram
a month of mourning. It is not disliked to marry in this month. It is a highly
reprehensible innovation to participate in the rituals of the Shiah in mourning
the death of Husayn (Allah be pleased with him).]

Some of the Virtues of the Day of `Ashura’

It is a day in which Allah forgave an entire people. Tirmidhi relates that
the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to a man, “If you want
to fast a month after Ramadan, then fast Muharram, for it has a day in which
Allah forgave an entire people, and He turns to others in repentance in.” [Tirmidhi
(841)]

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

“Osama Bin-Who?” Native Deen, and Why American Muslims Shouldn’t Play the Victim : ReligionWriter.com

When ReligionWriter first heard that the American Muslim hip-hop group Native Deen had a new album out this winter, she wanted to buy it right away. Native Deen’s earlier album, The Deen You Know, was played more-or-less non-stop in RW’s
car for months, at the request of her young sons, who loved to rock out
to the title track. (FYI for non-Muslim types: “deen” means
religion in Arabic.) At the December Eid al-Adha celebration in
downtown D.C. (an event well-captured on video by Washington Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein,) RW brought her sons over to buy the new CD, Not Afraid to Stand Alone, from none other than Joshua Salaam — one of the three members of Native Deen, who also happens to be the youth director at the ADAMS Center, RW’s own mosque. RW’s sons shyly handed over the money, thrilled to see a “celebrity” they admire face to face.

1. Consider the reader–say what you want the reader to get, not what you feel like expressing.
2. Be clear and to the point.
3. Harness the power of subject-lines, and consider sub-headings in longer emails.
4. If upset, wait before sending.
5. Be careful about forwarding and cc’ing.
6. To avoid embarassment, read over your email before sending.
7. Make sure you are conveying the right tone.

The Hallmark of Lovers - Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali - translated by Shaykh Surkheel Sharif (Abu Aaliyah)

I had the joy and honor of spending time with Shaykh Abu Aaliyah during the recent RIS 2007 conference here in Toronto. He is one of the most beautiful human beings I’ve run into, Masha’ Allah.

His website, The Jawziyyah Institute, is full of beneficial material. (And, like other humans of high intelligence, he appears to be a Mac user.)

Dear Self Book Discussion, Imam Zaid on the KPFA Morning Show « Knowledge Seeker

Imam Zaid Shakir, in a beautiful example of excellence to parents, published his mother’s beautiful diary…

Dear Self book discussion. Imam Zaid Shakir talks on the KPFA Morning Show.

With thanks to Zaytuna Institute for uploading the audio.

Click on the links below to:

Listen to the interview.

Buy the book in the USA.

Buy the book in the UK.

Guidance - Prayer Times for Mac OS X

Guidance is a prayer times application for Mac OS X that plays the Adhan when it is time to pray salah. Designed to be simple and elegant, Guidance sits in the menu bar and shows a countdown until the next prayer. When it’s time for prayer, Guidance displays a Growl notification and plays the adhan. Guidance stays out of the way while providing you with current prayer time information.

Guidance - Download DMG file (Mac only)

Recommended by fellow MacMuslim, Sidi Khalil Moore

Islamic bonds hit by scholar - - The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper

The booming market for financial products that comply with Islamic law was thrown for a loop recently by criticism from a leading scholar, who has set off a debate about whether the industry has sacrificed religious principles for the sake of growth at a time of surging Middle East oil revenue.Shariah, or Islamic law, prohibits charging or paying interest, so bankers and lawyers have developed a rapidly growing financial market by restructuring conventional products like bonds to make them compliant with Islam. Shariah-compliant products attempt to replicate the concept of interest through cost-plus transactions, leasing arrangements or by linking payments to returns on underlying assets. The process is normally blessed by a board of religious scholars affiliated with a bank.

However, one of the world’s leading Shariah-finance scholars recently rattled the market by saying 85 percent of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, are not Shariah-compliant. Sheik Mohammed Taqi Usmani argued that, in essence, they were structured too much like conventional bonds… [read on]

The Auntie Answer to the Chicken-Egg Question

“Beta! It is very clear! Samjo [Understand]… Of course egg came before the chicken. Egg is breakfast. Chicken is lunch. Omelette before chicken curry. Simple!”
 - Thus Spoke Auntie.

Case closed.

?

The broken bloodline | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Fatima Bhutto is Benazir’s niece. The resemblance is striking: the long nose, the headstrong personality, the burning rage about a father’s violent death. Declan Walsh meets the woman who would have been the heir to Benazir’s throne - if it weren’t for the family feud that came between them

The Radical Middle Way - Habib Ali :: in English and Arabic

Habib Ali Al-Jifri :: Audio

We thank Allah that He has chosen us to be among the people of ‘there is none worthy of worship but Allah’ in this blessed age.  And I say blessed because the blessedness of time is in accordance to what Allah inspires and makes flow into the heart of the believer at that time.

The Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said that at the end of time, the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary would descend upon the Earth and that he would find amongst my nation, men who would stand with him like his disciples stood with him, i.e. in the certainty they have in Allah and truthfulness that marks their relationship with Allah.

Sufficient it is as a blessing of our time that it has begun with the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, as he, peace be upon him said, “I was sent and I and the Hour are like this (and he places his two fingers by one another, i.e. very close near).

Before us now, in these days, is a great opportunity, which I believe was not granted to the generations before us, but the problem is that we have not been mindful.  This opportunity is unprecedented in that the whole world, and I emphasize the whole world, is willing to listen to the message of Islam.  It is true, that a big part of that concern is due to negative causes, but the end result is that the whole world listens carefully to you, so be mindful of what you say, be mindful of what you say, be mindful of what you say.  Understand that we are people with a mission.
 
The Mission

Firstly, it is appropriate that we understand that Islam does not stand accused such that we must stand to defend it.  Islam is the religion of Allah, to which all of creation needs to be connected.

Habib Ali Al-Jifri :: Audio

Featured Download: Desktop Newsreaders FeedDemon and NetNewsWire Now Free

Windows and Mac OS X only: If you’ve ever considered using a desktop-based newsreader rather than online options like Google Reader, chances are you’ve run into NewsGator’s FeedDemon (Windows) or NetNewsWire (Mac). Today NewsGator has announced that both offerings are free, meaning that you can now get the speed, desktop integration, smart lists, and syncing capabilities of these awesome newsreaders for the wonderful price of naught. I made the move to NetNewsWire from Google Reader a couple of months back, and frankly, I’m not sure I could go back to web-based RSS. Now that both FeedDemon and NetNewsWire have hit the freeware world, I don’t think I’ll ever have to. They’ve also freed up NewsGator Go! (for Windows Mobile) and NewsGator Inbox (for MS Outlook). Awesome.

Newsgator RSS Suite [Newsgator]

Dubai plans world’s largest Islamic bank in 5 years « The Islamic Finance Blog

Dubai plans to create the world’s largest Islamic bank within five years, spending as much as $1 billion on individual acquisitions in countries as far apart as Indonesia, Egypt and Britain, Noor Islamic Bank said.

Noor, which is 25 percent owned by the government of Dubai and 25 percent by the emirate’s ruler, plans to spend between $500 million and $1 billion each time on a “few” acquisitions in Europe, Asia and North Africa, Chief Executive Officer Hussain al-Qemzi told Reuters on Tuesday.

Sidi Khalil Moore - Journey of a Seeker - Stony Brook Muslim Students Association

TorontoSun.com - Toronto And GTA - Imam blasts immigrant parents

What to listen to — the imam or the iPod?

For families with Canadian-born kids and Muslim immigrant parents, it’s one of the many questions that can pervade the day-to-day life of trying to balance the trappings of Western culture and the traditions of Islamic faith.

But immigrant parents trying to live by their faith shouldn’t have delusions that their Canadian-born kids will be immune to Western culture and act as if they’re in a strict Islamic country, charged an imam at the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference in Toronto yesterday.

Imam Zaid Shakir, who teaches at the Oakland-area Zaytuna Institute, yesterday spoke about the tragedy of teen Aqsa Parvez, who police allege was killed by her father. It emerged in the days after her murder that the 16-year-old’s death could’ve been sparked by her refusal to wear a hijab, as her father apparently demanded.

Shakir then blasted immigrant parents for expecting their kids to be oblivious to the realities of their adopted homeland.

“If you want your children to be a Pakistani, to be an Egyptian, to be a Syrian, to be a Turk, to be a Sudanese, a Somali, then you should’ve stayed in Pakistan or Egypt or Sudan or Somalia,” Shakir said, to applause.

Shakir said it wasn’t the childrens’ choice to immigrate, but the parents. “Parents, your children didn’t ask to come here, to Canada or America or Britain. They didn’t ask to come here. You chose to come here… there are consequences that come with that choice,” Shakir said.

The three-day, sixth-annual conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre draws about 15,000 people each year, said spokesman Arsalan Shirazi. The conference doesn’t subscribe to a single ideology or denomination, Shirazi said.

“It is part of our Islamic tradition to have differences of opinion, and to tolerate and appreciate those differences of opinions,” Shirazi said.

Maqsud Baswa, 65, a parent of three grown children who grew up mostly in the U.S. and Canada after his architecture profession moved him from Pakistan, agreed with Shakir’s speech.

“I think the first point is that it’s very important to recognize that we have come to a difference culture, and there are some good things in this culture that we should adopt, and that we should also let our children adopt,” Baswa said.

Shakir also referenced the Christmas Day killing of Iliada Zois, 22, who was stabbed to death along with her brother Jamie, 14. Shakir asked the crowd for a show of hands indicating who was familiar with Zois’ tragic death. Barely anybody put up their hand. When he asked about Parvez, a significantly larger number of hands shot up. This angered him.

“As Muslims here in the West, we must know the story of and the plight of Iliada Zois as well as we know the story and the plight of Aqsa Parvez, because we have a standard where our Lord instructs us,” Shakir said. “…One innocent life that’s killed, be they Muslim, is no more valuable than an innocent life of that girl who is not a Muslim. They were both innocent, they were both humans, and their lives were both snuffed out in the flower of their youths.”

Pregnancy becomes latest job outsourced to India - USATODAY.com

Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills.

A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world.

WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: Greening Shrimp

Good news for consumers of these delicious but often unsustainable
crustaceans: Oregon’s pink shrimp fishery has become the first
large-scale commercial shrimp fishery in the world to be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council,
the most respected and strictest certification group in the world–a
major step that could create a market for more certified-sustainable
shrimp farms and fisheries in the future.

Since commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, shrimping has
evolved into a vast international industry, with much of the world’s
market produced on large commercial farms in China, Thailand, and other
Asian countries. Shrimp farms, which can stretch over many acres,
consist largely of rows of vast ponds; each produces a single variety
of shrimp. These massive monocultures, unsurprisingly, have huge
ecological impacts. In many areas, shrimp farmers cleared out native
trees and grasses, particularly coastal mangroves, to make room for the
massive farms, with predictable consequences: Reductions in
biodiversity and an increase of erosion in areas that were already
prone to flooding. Wastewater from shrimp farms typically contains
shrimp waste, fertilizers, pesticides and antibiotics that end up
contaminating wastewater and polluting coastal areas. And while you
might think wild shrimp fisheries would have a smaller impact than vast
monocultural farms, they’re actually not that much better, with impacts
including by-catch (unwanted fish and animals that are caught as the
nets drag along the ocean floor and tossed back into the water dead)
and damage done by nets to the ocean floor itself. So finding better,
smarter ways to farm and fish for shrimp is critical for this large and
growing industry.