| Yvonne Ridley |
| I FEEL very uncomfortable about the pop culture which is growing around some so-called Nasheed artists. Of course I use the term 'Nasheed artists' very lightly. Islamic 'boy bands' and Muslim 'popsters' would probably be more appropriate. Eminent scholars throughout history have often opined that music is haram, and I don't recall reading anything about the Sahaba whooping it up to the sound of music. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for people letting off steam, but in a dignified manner and one which is appropriate to their surroundings. The reason I am expressing concern is that just a few days ago at a venue in Central London, sisters went wild in the aisles as some form of pop-mania swept through the concert venue. And I'm not just talking about silly, little girls who don't know any better; I am talking about sisters in their 20's, 30's and 40's, who squealed, shouted, swayed and danced. Even the security guys who looked more like pipe cleaners than bulldozers were left looking dazed and confused as they tried to stop hijabi sisters from standing on their chairs. Of course the stage groupies did not help at all as they waved and encouraged the largely female Muslim crowd to "get up and sing along." (They're called 'Fluffers' in lap-dancing circles!) The source of all this adulation was British-born Sami Yusuf, who is so proud of his claret-colored passport that he wants us all to wave the Union Jacks. I'm amazed he didn't encourage his fans to sing "Land of Hope and Glory." Brother Sami asked his audience to cheer if they were proud to be British ,and when they responded loudly, he said he couldn't hear them and asked them to cheer again. How can anyone be proud to be British? Britain is the third most hated country in the world. The Union Jack is drenched in the blood of our brothers and sisters across Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. Our history is steeped in the blood of colonialism, rooted in slavery, brutality, torture, and oppression. And we haven't had a decent game of soccer since we lifted the World Cup in 1966. Apparently Sami also said one of the selling points of Brand UK was having Muslims in the Metropolitan Police Force! Astagfir'Allah! Dude, these are the same cops who have a shoot-to-kill policy and would have gunned down a Muslim last year if they could tell the difference between a Bangladeshi and a Brazilian. This is the same police force that has raided more than 3000 Muslim homes in Britain since 9/11. What sort of life is there on Planet Sami, I wonder? If he is so proud to be British, why is he living in the great Middle Eastern democracy of Egypt? Apparently the sort of hysteria Sami helped encourage is also in America, and if it is happening on both sides of the Atlantic, then it must be creeping around the globe and poisoning the masses. Islamic boy bands like 786 and Mecca 2 Medina are also the subject of the sort of female adulation you expect to see on American Pop Idol or the X-Factor. Surely Islamic events should be promoting restrained and more sedate behavior. Do we blame the out-of-control sisters? Or do we blame the organizers for allowing this sort of excessive behavior which demeans Islam? Or do we blame the artists themselves? Abu Ali and Abu Abdul Malik, struggling for their Deen, would certainly not try to whip up this sort of hysteria. Neither would the anonymous heroic Nasheed artists who sing for freedom; check out Idhrib Ya Asad Fallujah, and you will know exactly what I mean. Fallujah is now synonymous with the sort of heroic resistance that elevated the Palestinians of Jenin to the ranks of the resistance written about in the Paris Communeand the Siege of Leningrad. The US military has banned the playing of any Nasheeds about Fallujah because of the power and the passion it evokes. If those Nasheeds had sisters running in the streets whooping and dancing, however, the Nasheeds may be encouraged because of haram activity surrounding them. Quite frankly, I really don't know how anyone in the Ummah can really let go and scream and shout with joy at pleasure domes when there is so much brutality and suffering going on in the world today. The rivers of blood flow freely from the veins of our brothers and sisters from across the Muslim world. Screaming and shouting the names of musical heroes drown out the screams coming from the dungeons of Uzbekistan where brothers and sisters are boiled alive in vats of water. How many will jump up and down and wave their arms in the air, shouting wildly for justice for our kin in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine, and Iraq? There are many more killing fields as well across the Asian and Arab world. Will you climb on theater chairs and express your rage over Guantanamo Bay and other gulags where our brothers and sisters are being tortured, raped, sodomized, beaten, and burned? Or will you just switch off this concerned sister and switch on to the likes of Sami Yusuf because he can sell you a pipe dream with his soothing words and melodic voice? Oh, Muslims, wake up! The Ummah is not bleeding; it is hemorrhaging. Listen not to what is haram. Listen to the pain of your global family. |
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Pop Culture in the Name of Islam
Babar Ahmad
Words of Pain
Allah says in Surah Ale-Imran 3:167, “They say with their mouths that which is not in their hearts.”
The Pious Predecessors used to say, “Words that come from the mouth, stop at the ears. But words that come from the heart, reach the heart.”
How many fiery sermons and eloquent speeches are delivered yet they fail to move even a hair on the bodies of the listeners? How many books and articles are written, awash with Quranic verses, sayings, quotes and evidences, yet they fail to inspire their readers to think or act? How many eloquent lines of poetry are scribed yet they fail to penetrate the hearts of people, as if they were cold drops of water dripping onto blocks of ice? And how many prayers are led, complete with beautifully recited Quranic verses, yet they fail to moisten the eyes of the congregation with tears and melt their hearts with the flames of Iman?
Why would Umar bin Al-Khattab recite the Quran in salah and both he and the congregation would weep excessively until those in the back rows would hear his sobs? Was the Quran in his possession any different to the one in our possession? Why would Fatima Az-Zahraa, the daughter of the Prophet (SAWS), bring female audiences to tears every time she spoke about Allah? Was the Allah that she would talk about, any different to the Allah that we have today? Why did the oft-repeated lines of poetry, “O Worshipper of the Two Holy Sanctuaries!’, written by Imam Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak, pierce the heart of the scholar Fudail bin Ayyad and moisten his eyes, whilst thousands of, perhaps more eloquent verses fail to deserve even a mention today? And why do the books of the likes of Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Ibn An-Nuhaas, Syed Qutb, Abdullah Azzam, etc. continue to inspire and motivate millions around the world, whilst there are countless other books, perhaps written by more knowledgeable scholars that hardly ever leave the shelves of the booksellers?
The answer to all of the above is the pain that each of these individuals experiences in their hearts whilst speaking, writing, or reciting. The one who feels pain in his heart, in his nerves and in his blood is able to infuse the same passionate emotions, via his words, into the hearts of others. The authors and orators who have experienced no pain, no hardship, no trials and no tribulations in their lives will produce heaps upon heaps of cheap, empty and lifeless words. That is because their words were born in a dead heart accustomed to a life of luxury and comfort. That is because words pour forth from their pens or their tongues, but not from their feelings and emotions. Though they may use the most eloquent of words, the reality is that their hearts and bodies have not lived the experience. Therefore the words of such authors and orators are cold, like blocks of ice, and they fail to penetrate even the softest of hearts.
On the other hand there are the likes of true believers, such as the Companions of the Prophet (SAWS), may Allah be pleased with them all, and all those who followed and follow them in righteousness until the Day of Resurrection. They felt the pains of hunger, of thirst, of poverty, of rejection, of banishment from home and country, of estrangement from loved ones, of abandonment of all material pleasures, of imprisonment, of torture, of physical and emotional wounds and death, both their own and that of others close to them. That is why they are shining beacons on the path to Paradise: “All those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so from their guidance take an example.” (Quran 6:90)
The ultimate feeling of pain, feeling and emotion is imparted by the words of an individual who has given his life in pursuit of his words, as per the famous quote of Syed Qutb:
“Indeed our words will remain lifeless, barren, devoid of any passion, until we die as a result of these words, whereupon our words will suddenly spring to life and live on amongst the hearts that are dead, bringing them back to life as well…”
Are We Truly Believers?
“So do not weaken and do not grieve, for you will indeed be superior if you are truly believers.”
[Al-Quran 3:139]
This verse was revealed to the Messenger (SAS) by Allah The Almighty from above the Seven Heavens, soon after the Muslims suffered a defeat in the Battle of Uhud and returned to Al-Madinah dejected and downtrodden. It was revealed as an encouragement to the believers after a victory that was in their grasp, was snatched away from them and turned into a defeat. And why should the Companions (RA) not have felt devastated at this defeat? Seventy of the best human beings on Earth at the time were killed and countless others were injured. Even the Messenger (SAS) himself was seriously wounded until blood flowed from his face and he said in great anguish whilst wiping the blood from his noble cheeks: “Allah’s Wrath is Great upon the people who besmeared His Messenger’s face with blood.”
However, this defeat was only a temporary setback so that the believers could reflect upon the reasons for the defeat, described in successive verses of Surah Ale-Imran. The mistakes and sins of a few believers had deprived the whole army of victory.
When Umar bin Al-Khattab (RA) despatched the army of Saad bin Abi Waqqas (RA) to the Battle of Al-Qadisiyyah, he advised him: “Fear your sins more than you fear the enemy as your sins are more dangerous to you than your enemy. We Muslims are only victorious over our enemy because their sins outnumber ours, not for any other reason. If our sins were equal to those of our enemy, then they would defeat us due to their superior numbers and resources.”
And so Saad (RA) proceeded to fight the Persians and, sticking to the advice of his leader, he imprisoned the alcoholic Abu Mahjan Ath-Thaqafi lest his presence in the army delays the victory. Until, Abu Mahjan lamented in his shackles and composed verses of poetry that touched the wife of Saad (RA) to temporarily release him so that he could participate in the battle with his brothers. Abu Mahjan thus went out riding the horse of Saad (RA) (as Saad (RA) was bedridden with fever) and performed unmatched feats of valour before returning to his cell in the evening and wearing his shackles back by himself. This continued for three days until, when Saad (RA) found out about the heroics of Abu Mahjan, he untied his shackles with the words: “By Allah! I will never imprison you again for drinking alcohol!” Upon this, Abu Mahjan replied, “By Allah! I will never again touch alcohol after this day!” The army was victorious and Saad (RA) appointed the ascetic Companion Salman Al-Farsi (RA) as the new ruler of Persia, who lived on a meagre salary of one dirham per day.
Victory and defeat, gains and losses, and successes and setbacks are not decided by money, resources, numbers or skills. Rather, they are decided by the balance of obedience and disobedience of Allah The Exalted. The more we obey Allah, both individually and collectively, the more we hasten His Victory. The more we disobey Allah, the more we delay the arrival of His Victory. One Muslim’s sins can delay the victory for everyone. It is very easy to blame Bush and Blair, the ‘West’, the ‘kuffar’ or simply ‘them’ for all our woes and worries. But it is not so easy to look in the mirror and point the finger at ourselves.
Look at us and our pathetic state. We have abandoned Salah or we delay it or rush through it. We are too stingy to give Zakah, let alone optional charity. We prefer to go on holiday than to go for the obligatory Hajj. We drink alcohol, we use and supply drugs (Muslims are amongst the biggest suppliers of drugs in the world today), we cohabit outside wedlock, we steal, we cheat. We eat haram, earn haram and sell haram. We beat our wives and force our daughters into marriages then use Islam to justify it. We are quick to spend on fashion and luxuries but slow to spend on orphans and the needy. We fail to utter a single word, let alone raise a finger, when we see our fellow Muslims imprisoned , tortured, house-arrested, extradited or slain for fear of being ‘linked’ to them. We waste our lives watching television and playing computer games then complain that we don’t have enough time to become better Muslims. We are too addicted to music to find time to listen to or memorise the Quran. We are too busy in fun and games to fulfil our responsibilities as vicegerents on Allah’s Earth. And after all this (and more), we have the audacity to wonder why Allah’s Victory has not yet arrived. With our paltry state, we should more likely expect Allah’s Wrath and Punishment rather than His Victory.
Every sin we commit delays the arrival of Allah’s Victory. Every Salah we delay extends the incarceration of a captive at Guantanamo Bay. Every drug we take allows another Quran to be flushed down the toilet. Every hour we waste watching TV allows another Muslim to be kidnapped and extradited into the hands of savage beasts. Every time we gaze at something forbidden, we place an obstacle in the path of Allah’s Victory. A sin is not a ‘private matter between me and Allah’ but one sin can make the difference between victory and defeat. Every sin we commit is one more reason why Allah should not grant us relief, safety and victory.
Allah has made us a Promise in the aforementioned verse: “So do not weaken and do not grieve, for you will indeed be superior if you are truly believers.” He promises us relief, assistance, superiority and victory on the condition that we are true believers. If we suffer defeats today then it does not mean that Allah’s Promise is false. Instead, the question we must ask ourselves is: are we truly believers?
The Carrot and The Stick
The example of the ‘carrot and the stick’ is a commonly used principle in negotiation dynamics. The trainer offers the carrot to the rabbit as an incentive to listen to the trainer. However, if the rabbit refuses, the threat of the stick in the trainer’s hand looms in the background. Nation states use this principle all the time: if you drop your nuclear programme we will grant you economic aid. If you persist and refuse to listen to us we will impose sanctions upon you and even military action.
The ‘two begging bowls’ concept is unheard of except in some Muslim communities in the West. Since we always approach the Government with a begging bowl in each hand we never get anything in return that we want. Yes, our bowls do get filled with ‘talk shop’ coffee mornings with ministers and maybe even a few photo shoots to frame on our living-room walls. Other than that we really have to ask ourselves what the two begging bowls have done for us.
The same can be said of local ‘community relations’- if such a thing exists. Mr Policeman asks us to inform on, spy on and hand over our sons to him so he can extradite them (fast-track) to hungry predators around the world. In return, we are overjoyed if he just steps into our mosque in uniform for some tea and samosas, just like the days of the colonialist British Raj in India.
Yet when two negotiating partners approach each other, each with a carrot and stick in their hands, the end result is usually an amicable compromise between the two. Because each knows that the other also hides a stick behind his smiling face.
The ‘stick’ does not have to literally mean a stick of violence or bloodshed. In racist 1950’s South Africa, the African National Congress used a combination of strikes, boycotts, sit-ins and voluntary imprisonments in order to demand justice from the oppressor. As Nelson Mandela wrote, ‘A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle, and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor. At a certain point, one can only fight fire with fire.’
After the recent decision of the Home Secretary to extradite Babar to the U.S. (the first time ever that a British Government has approved the extradition of a Muslim ‘terror’ suspect to the U.S.), we may have today reached that ‘certain point’. The equation is simple. What do we want from the Government and what does the Government want from us? We want the Government to stop extraditing our sons to brutal regimes under its phoney ‘War on Terror’. Instead if our sons have done anything wrong they should be put on trial in Britain since there certainly is no shortage of terrorism legislation here. The Government, on the other hand, needs our ‘support’ and co-operation’ in fighting ‘terrorism’. This is our stick and maybe now it is time to use it.
Maybe it is now time to notify the Government: If you do not stop extraditing our sons to your brutal ‘allies’ then expect no help, cooperation or support from us. You want us to hand our sons over to you just so that you can fast-track them to America or Guantanamo Bay? Sorry, this is not going to take place without a price. And that price is that you can expect our communities to stop cooperating with you in your ‘War of Terror.’ This time you have gone one step too far. You opened this can of worms and you can close it.
The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said, “The believer is never stung from the same hole twice.” Several Muslim organisations and individuals (may Allah reward them) made frantic efforts directly with Government ministers to prevent this decision of the Home Secretary, but they were chewed and spat out. It is clear that the idea of the ‘British Muslim’ is just a public-relations exercise since if the British Passport meant anything (like the German, Dutch or French one) it would have protected its holder from extradition to a foreign country.
If any Muslim is extradited from Britain to the U.S., he will be the first of many. Moreover, it will mean one bottom line. That bottom line will be that our community will go down in history as the two-million strong Muslim community that could not stop one man being forcibly taken to one of the most brutal regimes the world has ever known. The next few months will decide which course history will adopt.
Tarbiah
The word "Tarbiah" is an Arabic word that linguistically means the increase, growth, and loftiness. Conventionally, Tarbiah means the development and the training of people in various aspects. The word is commonly used to describe children upbringing as the parents provide them with physical, educational, moral and spiritual needs to help them grow up and become useful parties in the society.
LEVEL 1
BOOKS
The Holy Quran
The Hadith
The Islamic Creed
The Life of The Prophet (PBUH) and the Lives of the Companions and Followers
Islamic Jurisprudence and Laws
Tazkiah (Purification), Morals and The Muslim Character
Da’wah
VIDEO TAPES
- In the Shades of the Quran, by Sayyid Qutb
- The Meaning of the Quran, by Imam Maududi
- Easy Tajweed, by Al-Muqri’ Husaini.
- Al-Tibyan Fi Adab Hamalat Al-Quran (The etiquette of the carriers of Al-Quran), by Imam Al-Nawawi
- Way to the Quran, by Khurram Murad
- Al-Nawawi’s
Al-‘Aqeedah Al-Islamiyah (The Islamic Creed)
- General Introduction to Islam, by Ali Tantawi
- Towards Understanding Islam, by Imam Maududi
- Resalat Al-‘aqa’ed, by Imam Hassan Al-Banna
- Four Basic Terms, by Imam Maududi
- The Faith, by Muhammad Na’im Yasin
AL-Seerah Al-Nabawiyah and seerat Al-Sahabah wa-l-Tabi’een (The Life of The Prophet (PBUH) and the Lives of the Companions and Followers)
- Light of Certitude (Nur al-Yaqeen), by Al-Khudri
- Portraits of the Companions of the Prophet, by Al-Basha
- Companions of the Prophet, by Abdel Wahid Hamid
- The Life of the Companions (Hayat al-Sahaba), by Kandahlawi
- Men Around the Messenger, By Khaild M. Khalid
Al-Fiqh al-Islami (Islamic Jurisprudence and Laws)
- Fiqh us-Sunnah, by Sheikh Syed Sabeq
- Everyday Fiqh, by Yusuf Islahi.
Tazkiah (Purification), Morals and The Muslim Character
- Zaad ‘Ala-t-Tariq (Nourishment along the Path), by Sheikh Mustafa Mashhour
- How to Attain True Piety and Righteousness in Islam, by Amin Islahi
- Al-Raqa’eq (The Softeners of the Heart), by Muhamed Ahmed Al-Rashed
- The Commitment, by Shamim Siddiqui
- Al-Ma’thurat (Memorial Supplications), by Imam Hassan Al-Banna
- Muslim’s Character, (Khulqul Muslim), by Sheikh M. Al-Ghazali
- Kimya’ As-Sa’ada, by Imam Al-Ghazaly
- To Be A Muslim, by Sheikh Fathi Yakun (Both Parts A & B)
- Milestones, (Ma’alem Fi-t-Tariq), by Sayyid Qutb
- This Religion of Islam, by Sayyid Qutb
- The Tracts of the Imam Hassan Al-Banna, by Imam Hasan Al-Banna:
o To the Youth
o To What do we Summon Mankind
o Between Yesterday and Today
o Under the Banner of the Qur’an - The Religion of the Future, by Sayyid Qutb
- The Passages of Truth. (Mamarraat Al-Haq) (selected translations), by Ra’ed Abdel-Hadi:
o Propriatory
o Abidance
o Courage
o Advice
o Work for Islam
o Importance of Collective Work
o High Aiming Ambtion
o Humility
o Confidence in Allah
o Educational Groups
o Comprehensiveness
o Inportance of Tarbiya
o Strong Foundation
o Duties of Today’s Muslim Da’iya
The Holy Qur’an
- Al-Qur’an: The first source, by H. Ghazali & S. Fareh
- Journey thourgh the Qur’an by A. Zaki
- Al-Qur’an, the Miracle of the Miracles by A. Deedat
- Feeling the Beauty of the Qur’an by H. Ghazali
- Al-Qur’an and Modern Science by J. Badawi
The Hadith
- Al-Sunnah: The second source by H. Ghazali & S. Fareh
- Preservation of the Sunnah by J. Zarabozo
‘Aqeeda
- Belief in Qadaa and Qadar by H. Ghazali
- Fundamentals of Islam by H. Ghazali
- Islam Among Other Revealed Religions by J. Zarabozo
- Why Islam by J. Badawi
- Misconceptions about Islam by J. Badawi
- Al-Aqeedah Al-Islamiyah by Tariq Swaidan
Tazkiya
- Diseases of the Heart by A. Idris
General
- Women in Islam between Myth and Reality by J. Badawi
- Islam and My Life by Cat Stevens
- Men and Women Relations in Islam by J. Lang
- Social Justice in Islam by H. Ghazali & S. Fareh
- Living Islam in
- Living Islam in
- Living Islam in
- Living Islam in
- Living Islam in
- Human Embryology Between Islam and Science by K. Moore
- The Way to Islam in
LEVEL 2
BOOKS
The Holy Qur’an
- The Meaning of the Qur’an, by Imam Maududi
The Hadith
- Sahih Muslim
- Riyadh-us-Saliheen, by An-Nawawi
‘Aqidah
- Four Basic Terms in the Holy Qur’an, by Imam Maududi
- Islamic Belief Made Simple, by Hasan Ayyub
Tazkiya
- Almustakhlah Fi Tazkiyati-l-Anfus (in Arabic)
- How to Attain Piety and Righteousness in Islam, by Amin Islahi
- At-Targheeb Wa-t-Tarheeb
The Seerah
- Summarziing the Seerah of Ibn Hisham, translated by Silima Mihammed
- Fiqh us-Seerah, by M. Al-Qhazali
- Seerat un-Nabi, by Shibli Numani
Biographies of the Companions
- Companions of the Prophet, Vol. 1-3, by Abdul Wahid Hamid
- Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d
- Hayat us-Sahaba, by Kandahalwi
Fiqh
- Fiqh us-Sunnah, by Sayyid Sabiq
- Al-Fiqh ‘Ala-l-Madhahib Al-Arba’a
Islamic System
- The Individual and the State, by Dr. Abdulkarim Zaidan
- Political System of Islam, by Imam Maududi
- On Political System of Islam, by El ‘Awwa
Da’wah
- Manual of Da’wah to Individuals, by MAS
- Individual Da’wah, by Sheikh, Mustafa Mashhoor
- Manual of Acquaintance with MAS, by MAS Tarbiya Department
- Manual of Acquaintance with ICNA, by ICNA
- Passages of the Truth:
o Confidence
o Sacrifice
o Mujahada
o Distinctiveness
o Necessity of Leadership
o Obedience, singleness of purpose
o Loyalty, steadfastness - Usool ad-Da’wah, (in Arabic) by A. Zaidan
- Witnesses Unto Mankind, by Imam Maududi
- The Tracts of the Imam Hassan Al-Banna, by Imam Hasan Al-banna:
o Our
o The Fifth Conference
o Our Da’wah in a New Stage
o Towards the Light
o Our Problems in the Light of the Islamic System
o The Jihad
o The Message of the Teachings
o Usrah System - Qawaid ad-Da’wah Ila Allah (in Arabic)
- The Path of Da’wah by Sheikh Mustfa Mashhoor
- Methodology of Da’wah, by Shamim Siddiqui
LEVEL 3
BOOKS
The Holy Qur’an
- The Meaning of the Qur’an, by Imam Maududi
- Ulum al-Qur’an, by A. Von Denfer
- A Course in the Sciences of the Qur’an, by Ibrahim Surty
- Towards Understanding the Qur’an, by Imam Maududi
- Way to the Qur’an, by Khurram Murad
The Hadith
- Riyadh-us-Saliheen, by An-Nawawi
- Studies of Hadith Methodology and Literature, by M Azmi
- As-Sunnah wa Makanatuha fi-t-tashree’ (in Arabic), by M. As-Siba’I
- The Sunnah: Source of Civilization, by Sh. Al-Qaradawi
‘Aqidah
- Al-‘Aqida At-Tahawiyya/Islamic Belief Made Simple, by H. Ayyub
- Al-‘Uboodiyya, by Ibn Taymiya
Fiqh and Usool al-Fiqh
- Fiqh us-Sunnah, by Sayyid Sabiq: from ayman to end of book
- Al-Fiqh ‘Ala-l-Madhabhib Al-Arba’a
- Al-wajeez fi Usool Al-Fiqh (in Arabic), by A. Zaidan
Da’wah
- Manual of Da’wah to the Masses, by MAS
- How to Tell Others About Islam, by Y. Emerick
- ICNA Bylaws and Regulations
- MAS Bylaws and Regulations
- Manual of Acquaintance with the
- Usool Ad-Da’wah (in Arabic), by Sheikh Al-Qaradawi
- Fiqh ud-Da’wah, by M. Nassir
- Methodology of Education, by Dr. Ali Abdulhaleem
- Saviors of Islamic Spirit, by A. Nadwi
- A Short History of Revivalist Movements, by Imam Maududi
- Islam and Communism, by Imam Maududi
- Islam and Capitalism, by Imam Maududi
- Islam and Secularism, by Imam Maududi
- Al-Mawsoo’a Al-Muyassara fil-Adyan wal-Madahib Al-Mu’asira (in Arabic), by WAMY
- Ad-Da’wah: Qawa’id wa Usool (in Arabic), by J. Amin
- The Islamic Movement: Dynamics of Values, Power and Change, by Imam Maududi
- Islam and the World, by A. Nadwi
- Problems Facing Da’wah and Da’iya, by Fathi Yakun
- Allah’s Universal Laws, by Dr. Abdulkarim Zaidan
- Call to Islam, by A. Islahi
- The Muslims of America, edited by E. Haddad
- Memoirs, by Imam Hasan Al-Banna
Friday, June 29, 2007
Muslim Identity
Many Muslims in the West bring up the issue of having an “Identity Crisis” since trying to fit in can be difficult. It is especially difficult for those who have at least a mustard seed of Iman but want to associate themselves with the kuffar. They only do this so that they can feel “comfortable”. They don’t have to worry about people looking at them strangely, labeling them with offensive terms and so on. They fear the people. They have taqwa of the people and have no regard for Allah. Ask yourself: are you one of these people that seek to please the people more than pleasing Allah?
There is no identity crisis for al Muslimeen fe kulli makaan. Wherever Muslims live, they must live according to Shari’ah. This includes their private life that nobody knows about except Allah, and their public life. Their private life should be one of a slave of Allah that spends time purifying the heart through many tunnels such as reciting Qur’an, studying Qur’an, praying nafl and tahajjud, giving charity and so on. Their public life should be a life of Da’wah and Jihad fe Sabeelillah. They will go out to call the people to Islam and repel the enemies that have invaded Muslim lands (and offensive Qitaal when necessary). Obviously, more importance goes to repelling the enemies since not repelling them would mean letting them take over the land and establish kufr. Shaykh ul Islam ibn Taymiyyah wrote, “The first obligation after Iman is the repulsion of the enemy aggressor who assaults the religion and the worldly affairs.”
Some Muslims take this Identity Crisis way to far. For instance, a brother who has a lot of status in both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities will not grow a fist length beard since he feels he might be labeled something or that he will get less followers. SubhanAllah, there is no compromise in this Deen. Did Musa (as), ‘Isa (as), or even Muhammad (s) compromise this Deen for the kuffar? Did they shave their beards because they were afraid of what the kuffar would say? Did they stop doing da’wah because they were afraid of what so and so will say? No they had taqwa of Allah and fulfilled their Islamic duty. If one wants to play with the religion of Allah, let him or her play with the harsh Malaaika (Angels) who guard the gates of Hellfire on the Day of Judgment. Let that person try to fool Allah into thinking that there really is an “Identity Crisis”. That person is only fooling themselves. To many Muslims, this is the case for other situations. Oh Muslim! Where is your ‘Izza (honor)? Where is your strength? Where is your Iman and Yaqeen? Where is your desire for Shahada? If all these things were really in you, you wouldn’t have a problem even if the worse happens because you know that what path you are on is the haqq and that there is no other haqq except the Siraatul Mustaqeem Allah has blessed us with. Some people say that you can loose your job if you’re firm on Islam; so what? Do you not believe that Allah provided you that job so that you can get Rizq from Him? If He wills, He will take it away when you least expect it; even if you are acting like a kafir or seeking the pleasure of the people, He can still take it away and leave you in the dust.
If you are a brother that doesn’t have the full beard, grow it. If you are a sister that doesn’t wear hijab and jilbab (properly), wear it. If you are a Muslim that beats around the bush when it comes to talking about Islam in front of the kuffar, quit it. If you are a Muslim that looks down upon Qital fe Sabeelillah and have no desire to do it, know that you have been intimidated by ash Shaytaan ar Rajeem. He will fool you into believing that Qital is harmful to yourself, your family, your community, and so on. He will tell you that Qital should not be done today but instead you should be “Progressive” and “Active”. SubhanAllah, what is “Activeness” without Qital Fe Sabeelillah? It is a recipe for humiliation. Why do you think Rasoolullah (s) said:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: I heard the Apostle of Allah, (sallallaahu `alayhi wa-sallam) say: “When you enter into the in a transaction, hold the tails of cows, are pleased with agriculture, and give up conducting jihad, Allah will make disgrace prevail over you, and will not withdraw it until you return to your original Deen (i.e., True Islam).” (Sunan Abu Dawud: Book 23, Number 3455)
’Umar ibn al Khattab (ra) burned down a farm of two Sahaba. They complained. What did ‘Umar say? He said, “This (farming) is the job of Ahlul Kitaab. Your job is Da’wah and Jihad.” My dear Muslim! This is not “The strict Salafi path” or Salafism or Sufism. This is Haqq. Allah has ordained this for us so we listen and obey.
On a side note, may the pigs and monkeys of Israel be humiliated by Allah. Ameen.
courtesy:inshallahshaheed.wordpress.comForbidden Thoughts
Freedom of expression
The world clicks a lot of times in the mind of a person when he/she says something. Because the person who speaks knows that wherever she/he lives protects the persons rights of expression. there is a free press in his country, there are people who will stand up to him for his protection- they will fight for him on his behalf. But what about those people who dont have these things in there country, what about those people whose country has been usurped by another country(oops) and what about the people who have been thrown out of there own country, who live like refugees in the lands which once they called it as there house.
I really dont know what will the people who will raed this will think of me. will you think me as a fundamentalist, a anti-semite, or more a terrorist. The words my freinds have very little meanings nowadys of hipocrisy. Freedom nowadys are talked by those people whom the world says are scums on earth. These are the forbidden thoughts.
The hypocrisy practiced by countries like USA, ISREAL, and its poodles like allies is very well known, but the most interesting fact is no one except the Muslims are standing against it. History is a witness that who ever has fought injustice, oppression, false fullness, has always labeled as a terrorist scums on earth. And the people who are in power with the power of there deceitfulness have always tried to crush them.
Never in history has mass awakening happened. And never will. It is always those individuals who have changed the history; it is always some handful of truthful, determined and committed people who have stood up. The best example that I can give is that of the prophet Muhammad-may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his companions, there were the best of the people who ever walked on this earth. They changed the world. They went through all the hurdles. They stood up for truth, and because of this they had to go against the will of there families, sometimes even there parents. But, there will was never weak enough to give up.
These were the first vanguards. Time and again, people like this have to stand up this vanguard which will stop at nothing until they don’t attain there goals.
The world clicks a lot of times in the mind of a person when he/she says something. Because the person who speaks knows that wherever she/he lives protects the persons rights of expression. there is a free press in his country, there are people who will stand up to him for his protection- they will fight for him on his behalf. But what about those people who dont have these things in there country, what about those people whose country has been usurped by another country(oops) and what about the people who have been thrown out of there own country, who live like refugees in the lands which once they called it as there house.
I really dont know what will the people who will raed this will think of me. will you think me as a fundamentalist, a anti-semite, or more a terrorist. The words my freinds have very little meanings nowadys of hipocrisy. Freedom nowadys are talked by those people whom the world says are scums on earth. These are the forbidden thoughts.
The hypocrisy practiced by countries like USA, ISREAL, and its poodles like allies is very well known, but the most interesting fact is no one except the Muslims are standing against it. History is a witness that who ever has fought injustice, oppression, false fullness, has always labeled as a terrorist scums on earth. And the people who are in power with the power of there deceitfulness have always tried to crush them.
Never in history has mass awakening happened. And never will. It is always those individuals who have changed the history; it is always some handful of truthful, determined and committed people who have stood up. The best example that I can give is that of the prophet Muhammad-may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his companions, there were the best of the people who ever walked on this earth. They changed the world. They went through all the hurdles. They stood up for truth, and because of this they had to go against the will of there families, sometimes even there parents. But, there will was never weak enough to give up.
These were the first vanguards. Time and again, people like this have to stand up this vanguard which will stop at nothing until they don’t attain there goals.
Islamic Empire: The Khilafah – Part 3
AUTHOR-Imran Nazar Hosein
“In this third part of a 9 part series we will see the way that the new Islamic Emperor or Caliph is chosen. It becomes clear that the Islamic concept of democracy and elections is very different from the West. There needs to be a mantle of authority, the bay’ah which is an authority that comes from a contractual obligation and theoretically there can only be one rightly elected Caliph. If another country decides to elect a Caliph for their country after the Caliphate has been established and a Caliph elected, then the second caliph must be opposed and killed. There can only be one Caliph and his authority is world-wide. One ruler over the whole world promising peace.
The Khilafah Contract
Khilafah is a contract of consent and selection, because it is a pledge to obey those in authority. So the consent of the person who is given the bay’ah to hold the Khilafah and the consent of those who give the bay’ah are essential. Therefore, if somebody rejected to be a Khaleefah and declined it, he must not be compelled to accept it, but another person is selected instead. Also, it is not allowed to take the bay’ah from the people by force, because, in this case, the pledge contract cannot be considered legal due to its contradiction with using force, since Khilafah is a contract of consent and selection devoid of any compulsion, like any other contract.
However, if the pledge contract is accomplished by those whose bay’ah is reliable then the bay’ah would be legal, and the elected person would become the person in authority who must be obeyed. bay’ah given to him later on becomes bay’ah of obedience rather than a bay’ah of Khilafah contract. In this case he is allowed to force the rest of the people to give him the bay’ah because it is a bay’ah of obedience which is wajib (a must). It is not correct to say that it is illegal to use compulsion, because the bay’ah in this case is not a contract bay’ah on Khilafah. Accordingly, the bay’ah initially is a contract which is not legal except by consent and choice. But after the contract bay’ah is given to the Khaleefah, then bay’ah becomes an obedience to his order, and compulsion comes from the fact that it is allowed to implement the order of Allah (swt). Since Khilafah is a contract, then there must be a contractor for the contract to be considered legal, like in the judiciary where the person cannot be a judge unless he is appointed in this office by somebody else, and in the imarah nobody can be an amir (leader) unless there is a person who appoints him in this office. And in the Khilafah, no person can be a Khaleefah unless he is appointed in this post as a Khilafah.Thereupon, it is clear that nobody becomes a Khaleefah unless the Muslims appoint him in this post, and he cannot have the authority of Khilafah unless he is contracted to it. And this contract can only be implemented by two parties - the first is the one who asked for the Khilafah and the second is the Muslims who accepted him as their Khaleefah. Therefore, the bay’ah of Muslims is essential to fulfill the Khilafah contract. Accordingly, if someone usurped power by force he will not become a Khaleefah even if he declared himself a Khaleefah for Muslims, because the contract of Khilafah has not been convened to him by the Muslims. And if he took the bay’ah from the Muslims by force, he is not considered a Khaleefah by such bay’ah, because the bay’ah by force is illegal. And Khilafah cannot be convened with it, since it is a contract of consent and selection which cannot be accomplished by force, but convened by a bay’ah of consent and choice. However, if this usurper managed to convince the people that it is in their interest to give him the bay’ah, and that the implementation of the Shari'ah laws requires from the people to give him the bay’ah and were convinced of that and accepted it, and they gave him the bay’ah by consent and choice, then he becomes a Khaleefah the moment he was given the bay’ah by consent and choice, though he initially held the power by force. So it is a condition that the bay’ah must occur by consent and choice whether the person who obtained the bay’ah was the ruler or not.
As for the people by whose bay’ah the Khilafah is established this can be derived by examining what happened in the bay’ah of the Khulafa'a ar-Rashidun and what the Sahabah agreed upon. In the bay’ah of Abu Bakr it was sufficient from ahle al-hal wal 'aqd (the people of influence) among Muslims in Medina alone; the opinion of Muslims in Mecca and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula was not sought, they were not even asked. It was the same case in the bay’ah of 'Umar. As for the bay’ah of 'Uthman, 'Abdul Rahman ibn 'Auf took the opinion of Muslims in Medina and did not confine it to the people of influence as Abu Bakr did when he nominated 'Umar. At the time of 'Ali it was sufficed with the bay’ah of the majority of the people of Medina and Kufa, and he was singled with bay’ah. His bay’ah was considered legal even by those who disagreed with him and fought against him, as they did not make bay’ah with any other person than him, and did not object to his bay’ah, they rather demanded revenge for the blood of 'Uthman, so their case was considered as rebels who avenged a matter from the Khaleefah and he had to explain it for them and fight them, but they did not form another Khilafah.
All this happened, i.e. giving the bay’ah to the Khaleefah from the people of the capital only without the rest of the regions, in front of the Sahabah, and none of them disagreed or denied that action of limiting the bay’ah to the majority of the people of Medina, though they disagreed on the person selected as Khaleefah and denied some of his actions, yet they did not deny that the bay’ah was made to him only by the majority of the people of Medina. So this was Ijma'a of the Sahabah that the Khilafah is established by those who represent the opinions of the Muslims in the matter of ruling. This is so because the people of influence and the majority of the residents of Medina represented the opinion of the majority of the Ummah in the matter of ruling in the whole territories of the Islamic State at that time.Accordingly, the Khilafah is convened if the bay’ah is made by the majority of those who represent the Islamic Ummah, who are under the authority of the Khaleefah that is being replaced by another, as was the case at the time of Khulafa'a ar-Rashidun. Their bay’ah would then be a bay’ah of contract to the Khilafah. As for the bay’ah of the other people, it becomes a bay’ah of obedience after the Khilafah was convened to the Khaleefah, that is a bay’ah of submission to the Khaleefah, not a bay’ah of contract to establish the Khilafah.This would be the case if there were a Khaleefah who died or was deposed and it is required to establish a Khaleefah in his place. But if there is no Khaleefah at all, and it became obligatory upon Muslims to appoint for themselves a Khaleefah to implement the Shari'ah laws and convey the Islamic call to the world, as is the case since the removal of the Islamic Khilafah in Istanbul in 1343 After Hijrah (1924 Christian Era) until the present day, then every country in the Islamic world is eligible to elect a Khaleefah and thereby establish a Khilafah.
So if one country of the Islamic world appointed a Khaleefah, and the Khilafah was established for him, it becomes obligatory upon Muslims to make a pledge of obedience to him, i.e. a bay’ah of submission, after the Khilafah was convened to him by the bay’ah of the people in his country, whether this country was big like Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia or small like Albania, Cameroon and Lebanon, on condition that the country fulfils four criteria:
1. The authority in that country must be self determined, depending on Muslims only, not on any disbeliever state or disbeliever influence.
2. The security of Muslims in that country must be through the security of Islam and not the security of Kufr, i.e. the protection of the country internally and externally must be in the name of Islam from the Muslims power in its capacity as a purely Islamic power.
3.The country must commence immediate implementation of Islam completely, comprehensively and radically and also engage in delivering the Islamic call.
4. The elected Khaleefah should fulfill the conditions of Khilafah contract, even if he is lacking the preferable conditions, because what matters is the contract conditions. Therefore, if that country has fulfilled these four conditions, then the Khilafah has been established by the bay’ah of that country alone and it was convened with it alone as well, even if this country does not represent the majority of the influential people who represent the Islamic Ummah. This is so because establishing the Khilafah is a collective duty, and whoever performs this duty in the correct manner would accomplish the prescribed duty.
And because the condition concerning the majority of the influential people applies if there was a Khilafah and there was a need to appoint another Khaleefah in place of the dead or deposed one. But if there was not a Khilafah at all and the establishment of one is necessary, then by its establishment in accordance with Shari'ah, the Khilafah will be convened legally by any Khaleefah who satisfies the conditions of the contract regardless of the number of the people who elected him, as the matter would be then a question of fulfilling a duty neglected by the Muslims for more than three days. Their negligence to this duty is a termination of their right to choose whom they want for a Khaleefah.
So if there arise some people who perform this duty, it suffices for the Khilafah to be established by them, and once the Khilafah is established in that country and contracted to a Khaleefah it becomes a duty upon all Muslims to rally under its banner and to give bay’ah to the Khaleefah, otherwise they would be sinful before Allah (swt). The elected Khaleefah must invite them to give him bay’ah and if they refused they would be considered as rebels whom the Khaleefah must fight until they submit to his authority. If another Khaleefah in the same or a different country is elected after the first Khaleefah who had the Khilafah convened to him legally by satisfying the four aforementioned conditions, then the Muslims must fight the second Khaleefah until he makes bay’ah to the first one. The evidence on this matter is what 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As narrated, that he heard the Prophet saying: "He who has pledged allegiance to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of his heart shall obey him if he can, if another person comes to dispute (his authority) strike the neck of the latter."
And also because the Khaleefah of Muslims is the one who unites the Muslims under the banner of Islam. So if the Khaleefah is found the Muslim community would be found and it becomes obligatory upon Muslims to join this community and haram (unclean) upon them to dissociate themselves from it. Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Prophet said: "If anyone sees in his amir something that displeases him let him remain patient because he who separates himself from the jama'ah (congregation) even so much as a hand span and dies as that, he dies the death of jahilliyah (the heathen)." Muslim reported about Ibn 'Abbas that the Prophet said: "If anyone hates something from his amir let him remain patient because he who separates himself from the sultan (authority) even so much as a hand span and dies as that, he dies the death of jahilliyah."
The indication from these two hadiths is to adhere to the Muslim community and to the authority of Islam.Non-Muslims have no right in the bay’ah, and it is not obligatory upon them because it is a bay’ah on Islam and on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and it requires belief in Islam, the Book and the Sunnah. Non-Muslims are not allowed to be involved in ruling nor to elect the ruler because they have no authority over Muslims and have no place in the bay’ah.
“In this third part of a 9 part series we will see the way that the new Islamic Emperor or Caliph is chosen. It becomes clear that the Islamic concept of democracy and elections is very different from the West. There needs to be a mantle of authority, the bay’ah which is an authority that comes from a contractual obligation and theoretically there can only be one rightly elected Caliph. If another country decides to elect a Caliph for their country after the Caliphate has been established and a Caliph elected, then the second caliph must be opposed and killed. There can only be one Caliph and his authority is world-wide. One ruler over the whole world promising peace.
The Khilafah Contract
Khilafah is a contract of consent and selection, because it is a pledge to obey those in authority. So the consent of the person who is given the bay’ah to hold the Khilafah and the consent of those who give the bay’ah are essential. Therefore, if somebody rejected to be a Khaleefah and declined it, he must not be compelled to accept it, but another person is selected instead. Also, it is not allowed to take the bay’ah from the people by force, because, in this case, the pledge contract cannot be considered legal due to its contradiction with using force, since Khilafah is a contract of consent and selection devoid of any compulsion, like any other contract.
However, if the pledge contract is accomplished by those whose bay’ah is reliable then the bay’ah would be legal, and the elected person would become the person in authority who must be obeyed. bay’ah given to him later on becomes bay’ah of obedience rather than a bay’ah of Khilafah contract. In this case he is allowed to force the rest of the people to give him the bay’ah because it is a bay’ah of obedience which is wajib (a must). It is not correct to say that it is illegal to use compulsion, because the bay’ah in this case is not a contract bay’ah on Khilafah. Accordingly, the bay’ah initially is a contract which is not legal except by consent and choice. But after the contract bay’ah is given to the Khaleefah, then bay’ah becomes an obedience to his order, and compulsion comes from the fact that it is allowed to implement the order of Allah (swt). Since Khilafah is a contract, then there must be a contractor for the contract to be considered legal, like in the judiciary where the person cannot be a judge unless he is appointed in this office by somebody else, and in the imarah nobody can be an amir (leader) unless there is a person who appoints him in this office. And in the Khilafah, no person can be a Khaleefah unless he is appointed in this post as a Khilafah.Thereupon, it is clear that nobody becomes a Khaleefah unless the Muslims appoint him in this post, and he cannot have the authority of Khilafah unless he is contracted to it. And this contract can only be implemented by two parties - the first is the one who asked for the Khilafah and the second is the Muslims who accepted him as their Khaleefah. Therefore, the bay’ah of Muslims is essential to fulfill the Khilafah contract. Accordingly, if someone usurped power by force he will not become a Khaleefah even if he declared himself a Khaleefah for Muslims, because the contract of Khilafah has not been convened to him by the Muslims. And if he took the bay’ah from the Muslims by force, he is not considered a Khaleefah by such bay’ah, because the bay’ah by force is illegal. And Khilafah cannot be convened with it, since it is a contract of consent and selection which cannot be accomplished by force, but convened by a bay’ah of consent and choice. However, if this usurper managed to convince the people that it is in their interest to give him the bay’ah, and that the implementation of the Shari'ah laws requires from the people to give him the bay’ah and were convinced of that and accepted it, and they gave him the bay’ah by consent and choice, then he becomes a Khaleefah the moment he was given the bay’ah by consent and choice, though he initially held the power by force. So it is a condition that the bay’ah must occur by consent and choice whether the person who obtained the bay’ah was the ruler or not.
As for the people by whose bay’ah the Khilafah is established this can be derived by examining what happened in the bay’ah of the Khulafa'a ar-Rashidun and what the Sahabah agreed upon. In the bay’ah of Abu Bakr it was sufficient from ahle al-hal wal 'aqd (the people of influence) among Muslims in Medina alone; the opinion of Muslims in Mecca and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula was not sought, they were not even asked. It was the same case in the bay’ah of 'Umar. As for the bay’ah of 'Uthman, 'Abdul Rahman ibn 'Auf took the opinion of Muslims in Medina and did not confine it to the people of influence as Abu Bakr did when he nominated 'Umar. At the time of 'Ali it was sufficed with the bay’ah of the majority of the people of Medina and Kufa, and he was singled with bay’ah. His bay’ah was considered legal even by those who disagreed with him and fought against him, as they did not make bay’ah with any other person than him, and did not object to his bay’ah, they rather demanded revenge for the blood of 'Uthman, so their case was considered as rebels who avenged a matter from the Khaleefah and he had to explain it for them and fight them, but they did not form another Khilafah.
All this happened, i.e. giving the bay’ah to the Khaleefah from the people of the capital only without the rest of the regions, in front of the Sahabah, and none of them disagreed or denied that action of limiting the bay’ah to the majority of the people of Medina, though they disagreed on the person selected as Khaleefah and denied some of his actions, yet they did not deny that the bay’ah was made to him only by the majority of the people of Medina. So this was Ijma'a of the Sahabah that the Khilafah is established by those who represent the opinions of the Muslims in the matter of ruling. This is so because the people of influence and the majority of the residents of Medina represented the opinion of the majority of the Ummah in the matter of ruling in the whole territories of the Islamic State at that time.Accordingly, the Khilafah is convened if the bay’ah is made by the majority of those who represent the Islamic Ummah, who are under the authority of the Khaleefah that is being replaced by another, as was the case at the time of Khulafa'a ar-Rashidun. Their bay’ah would then be a bay’ah of contract to the Khilafah. As for the bay’ah of the other people, it becomes a bay’ah of obedience after the Khilafah was convened to the Khaleefah, that is a bay’ah of submission to the Khaleefah, not a bay’ah of contract to establish the Khilafah.This would be the case if there were a Khaleefah who died or was deposed and it is required to establish a Khaleefah in his place. But if there is no Khaleefah at all, and it became obligatory upon Muslims to appoint for themselves a Khaleefah to implement the Shari'ah laws and convey the Islamic call to the world, as is the case since the removal of the Islamic Khilafah in Istanbul in 1343 After Hijrah (1924 Christian Era) until the present day, then every country in the Islamic world is eligible to elect a Khaleefah and thereby establish a Khilafah.
So if one country of the Islamic world appointed a Khaleefah, and the Khilafah was established for him, it becomes obligatory upon Muslims to make a pledge of obedience to him, i.e. a bay’ah of submission, after the Khilafah was convened to him by the bay’ah of the people in his country, whether this country was big like Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia or small like Albania, Cameroon and Lebanon, on condition that the country fulfils four criteria:
1. The authority in that country must be self determined, depending on Muslims only, not on any disbeliever state or disbeliever influence.
2. The security of Muslims in that country must be through the security of Islam and not the security of Kufr, i.e. the protection of the country internally and externally must be in the name of Islam from the Muslims power in its capacity as a purely Islamic power.
3.The country must commence immediate implementation of Islam completely, comprehensively and radically and also engage in delivering the Islamic call.
4. The elected Khaleefah should fulfill the conditions of Khilafah contract, even if he is lacking the preferable conditions, because what matters is the contract conditions. Therefore, if that country has fulfilled these four conditions, then the Khilafah has been established by the bay’ah of that country alone and it was convened with it alone as well, even if this country does not represent the majority of the influential people who represent the Islamic Ummah. This is so because establishing the Khilafah is a collective duty, and whoever performs this duty in the correct manner would accomplish the prescribed duty.
And because the condition concerning the majority of the influential people applies if there was a Khilafah and there was a need to appoint another Khaleefah in place of the dead or deposed one. But if there was not a Khilafah at all and the establishment of one is necessary, then by its establishment in accordance with Shari'ah, the Khilafah will be convened legally by any Khaleefah who satisfies the conditions of the contract regardless of the number of the people who elected him, as the matter would be then a question of fulfilling a duty neglected by the Muslims for more than three days. Their negligence to this duty is a termination of their right to choose whom they want for a Khaleefah.
So if there arise some people who perform this duty, it suffices for the Khilafah to be established by them, and once the Khilafah is established in that country and contracted to a Khaleefah it becomes a duty upon all Muslims to rally under its banner and to give bay’ah to the Khaleefah, otherwise they would be sinful before Allah (swt). The elected Khaleefah must invite them to give him bay’ah and if they refused they would be considered as rebels whom the Khaleefah must fight until they submit to his authority. If another Khaleefah in the same or a different country is elected after the first Khaleefah who had the Khilafah convened to him legally by satisfying the four aforementioned conditions, then the Muslims must fight the second Khaleefah until he makes bay’ah to the first one. The evidence on this matter is what 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As narrated, that he heard the Prophet saying: "He who has pledged allegiance to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of his heart shall obey him if he can, if another person comes to dispute (his authority) strike the neck of the latter."
And also because the Khaleefah of Muslims is the one who unites the Muslims under the banner of Islam. So if the Khaleefah is found the Muslim community would be found and it becomes obligatory upon Muslims to join this community and haram (unclean) upon them to dissociate themselves from it. Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Prophet said: "If anyone sees in his amir something that displeases him let him remain patient because he who separates himself from the jama'ah (congregation) even so much as a hand span and dies as that, he dies the death of jahilliyah (the heathen)." Muslim reported about Ibn 'Abbas that the Prophet said: "If anyone hates something from his amir let him remain patient because he who separates himself from the sultan (authority) even so much as a hand span and dies as that, he dies the death of jahilliyah."
The indication from these two hadiths is to adhere to the Muslim community and to the authority of Islam.Non-Muslims have no right in the bay’ah, and it is not obligatory upon them because it is a bay’ah on Islam and on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and it requires belief in Islam, the Book and the Sunnah. Non-Muslims are not allowed to be involved in ruling nor to elect the ruler because they have no authority over Muslims and have no place in the bay’ah.
Islamic Empire: The Khilafah – Part 2
AUTHOR-Imran Nazar Hosein
“This is the 2nd in a 9 part series on the Khilafah or Caliphate i.e. an Islamic Empire. What happens when a Caliph dies? He must be replaced within 2 days and if there is no agreement then the dissenters must be killed. Who decides who is the dissenter? As an example, could you imagine the election of a new Pope at the Vatican where the people wait for the puff of white smoke to indicate a new Pope has been elected. By the third day the white smoke appears and then a new Pope is announced. Great joy erupts, there is a new Pope! But wait a moment. Count the Cardinals! 10 are missing! It seems they were the dissenters and they have been slain. This is the scenario that would surround the election of a new Islamic Emporer or Caliph. I guess it gives one great incentive to “submit” in agreement. This is how Islam deals with electing its highest governmental official.”
The Time Limit Given for Muslims to Establish a Khaleefah The time limit given for Muslims to establish a Khaleefah is two nights. So no Muslim is allowed to stay for more than two nights without having a bay'ah on his neck. Making the upper limit as two nights is due to the fact that appointment of a Khaleefah is fard from the moment the previous Khaleefah dies or is deposed. But it is allowed to delay the appointment while engaging in it for two nights. If the delay exceeded two nights and the Muslims did not establish a Khaleefah, the matter is examined. If the Muslims were busy in establishing a Khaleefah but could not complete it within two nights due to overwhelming matters they cannot resist, then the sin will drop from them because they are engaged in establishing the duty and they are forced to delay it by compelling power. The Prophet said: "The sin due to mistake, forgetfulness and compulsion is removed from my Ummah." But if they were not engaged in performing the duty, then they would all be sinful until the Khaleefah is established and at that time the fard will drop from them. But the sin they committed in neglecting the establishment of a Khaleefah does not drop from them, it rather remains on them, and Allah (swt) will bring them to account for it the same way He (swt) brings any Muslim to account for any disobedience he commits when he neglects to perform a duty.
In regard with the evidence concerning the two nights time limit given to Muslims to perform the duty of establishing a Khaleefah, it is Ijma'a of the Sahabah The Sahabah started to meet in the courtyard of Bani Sa'ida, to discuss the appointment of a successor to the Messenger of Allah as soon as the news of the death of the Prophet reached them. They kept discussing in the courtyard, and on the second day they gathered the people in the mosque in order that they might give the bay'ah. This took two nights and three days. Also, when 'Umar became certain that his death was imminent as a result of the stab wound, he entrusted the people of shura (consultation) and gave them three days to choose a new Khaleefah. He recommended that if after the three days an agreement was not be reached about a Khaleefah then the dissenter should be killed after the aforementioned three days. 'Umar also empowered fifty Muslims to carry out this action, i.e. to kill the dissenter despite the fact they were of the shura people and of the eminent Sahabah. This order was given in front of the Sahabah, and no one was reported to deny or disagree with it, so it becomes Ijma'a of the Sahabah that Muslims are not permitted to stay without a Khaleefah for more than two nights and three days, and the Ijma'a of the Sahabah is a legitimate daleel shari'i (evidence) like the Qur'an and Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.
“This is the 2nd in a 9 part series on the Khilafah or Caliphate i.e. an Islamic Empire. What happens when a Caliph dies? He must be replaced within 2 days and if there is no agreement then the dissenters must be killed. Who decides who is the dissenter? As an example, could you imagine the election of a new Pope at the Vatican where the people wait for the puff of white smoke to indicate a new Pope has been elected. By the third day the white smoke appears and then a new Pope is announced. Great joy erupts, there is a new Pope! But wait a moment. Count the Cardinals! 10 are missing! It seems they were the dissenters and they have been slain. This is the scenario that would surround the election of a new Islamic Emporer or Caliph. I guess it gives one great incentive to “submit” in agreement. This is how Islam deals with electing its highest governmental official.”
The Time Limit Given for Muslims to Establish a Khaleefah The time limit given for Muslims to establish a Khaleefah is two nights. So no Muslim is allowed to stay for more than two nights without having a bay'ah on his neck. Making the upper limit as two nights is due to the fact that appointment of a Khaleefah is fard from the moment the previous Khaleefah dies or is deposed. But it is allowed to delay the appointment while engaging in it for two nights. If the delay exceeded two nights and the Muslims did not establish a Khaleefah, the matter is examined. If the Muslims were busy in establishing a Khaleefah but could not complete it within two nights due to overwhelming matters they cannot resist, then the sin will drop from them because they are engaged in establishing the duty and they are forced to delay it by compelling power. The Prophet said: "The sin due to mistake, forgetfulness and compulsion is removed from my Ummah." But if they were not engaged in performing the duty, then they would all be sinful until the Khaleefah is established and at that time the fard will drop from them. But the sin they committed in neglecting the establishment of a Khaleefah does not drop from them, it rather remains on them, and Allah (swt) will bring them to account for it the same way He (swt) brings any Muslim to account for any disobedience he commits when he neglects to perform a duty.
In regard with the evidence concerning the two nights time limit given to Muslims to perform the duty of establishing a Khaleefah, it is Ijma'a of the Sahabah The Sahabah started to meet in the courtyard of Bani Sa'ida, to discuss the appointment of a successor to the Messenger of Allah as soon as the news of the death of the Prophet reached them. They kept discussing in the courtyard, and on the second day they gathered the people in the mosque in order that they might give the bay'ah. This took two nights and three days. Also, when 'Umar became certain that his death was imminent as a result of the stab wound, he entrusted the people of shura (consultation) and gave them three days to choose a new Khaleefah. He recommended that if after the three days an agreement was not be reached about a Khaleefah then the dissenter should be killed after the aforementioned three days. 'Umar also empowered fifty Muslims to carry out this action, i.e. to kill the dissenter despite the fact they were of the shura people and of the eminent Sahabah. This order was given in front of the Sahabah, and no one was reported to deny or disagree with it, so it becomes Ijma'a of the Sahabah that Muslims are not permitted to stay without a Khaleefah for more than two nights and three days, and the Ijma'a of the Sahabah is a legitimate daleel shari'i (evidence) like the Qur'an and Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.
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