Was Michael Jackson A Muslim?

The recent passing of Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, has many people around the world talking…and mourning. It even has the Muslim world a buzz asking “Was Michael Jackson really a Muslim??”  Well, there have been reports from The Telegraph, etc saying he converted in November 2008 with the help and guidance of his older brother Jermaine. Allahu Alim (Allah knows best) whether he was or wasn’t.

Muslim Matters has reported:

UPDATE:

There are multiple reports coming from religious leaders confirming that Michael Jackson was Muslim. Most notably, they come from Imam Zaid Shakir who said he has reliable sources, and Imam Johari Malik who said CNN reported an Imam will be visiting the family for janazah arrangements. We’ll keep you posted of any more news as well as any updates on if Jackson will indeed be receiving a Salatul Janazah.

In their article, Muslim Matters  also does a good job of emphasizing the main point as to how  we should feel about this as Muslims…

 The answer is simple. Regardless of what the real answer is, we should hope he died Muslim. And that’s not just because he’s a celebrity or because we may have grown up listening to his hits, but because we as Muslims want the salvation of all mankind.

Islam is the best and most perfect way of life for all of humanity, and we want all manking to accept what we believe is the way to live mandated by God. And if that happens to be the most breakthrough artist in the history of pop music, then alhamdulillah, all praise be to God, may he be forgiven for all of his shortcomings.

If he’s not, then we leave his fate with his Creator as is, and hope more people like him are guided to accept Islam and help in spreading the message to the masses. And until we have some clearer answers to our questions, I feel this is the position we need to have as Muslims. We pray that Allah (SWT) guides more people to Islam.

 Muslim Matters also debunks some myths surrounding his supposed conversion and goes into more detail on the topic. You may read the full article here: http://muslimmatters.org/2009/06/26/did-michael-jackson-die-as-a-muslim/

10 Common Mistakes That Can Destroy A Marriage

10 common mistakes that destroy a relationship of marriage

In life and love, you may think you’re supposed to always focus on the positive instead of the negative. However, unless you become aware of your own hurtful attitudes or actions — so that you can correct them — your chances of staying in love ’til death do you part are close to zero. To have your marriage last a lifetime, avoid these 10 common mistakes:

1. Talking “at” instead of “with” your mate. Let his or her body language be your guide. When you’re talking “at” your partner, he or she will tense up. When you’re talking “with” your spouse, he or she will relax.

2. Tuning out — instead of tuning in — to what your mate is saying. When you mind begins to wander, stop and remember that what your partner is saying is important to him or her.

3. Forgetting to thank your mate. Not thanking your spouse for being considerate, thoughtful or kind makes him or her feel unappreciated and foolish for caring about you. even if your mate did something as simple as remembering to wash the laundry or cook dinner or pay an outstanding bill. although it may be generally “considered as a duty”, it is not. In fact the main duty in a marriage is to make the other person happy, for most people, ultimately that does not necessary have to do with chores or bills.

4. Getting defensive instead of saying, “I’m sorry.” When you mess up, the sooner you sincerely say, “I’m sorry,” or “I was wrong,” the sooner your mate can stop resenting you.

5. Always saying, “I’m sorry,” yet never changing. An apology buys you another chance. However, if you keep making the same mistake, apologies not only seem empty, but annoying as well.

6. Being repeatedly late. Frequently keeping your partner waiting is not only inconsiderate, it’s arrogant.

7. Playing the victim. This behavior not only accuses your spouse of hurting you, but adds insult to injury by implying that he or she is doing it intentionally, when that may not be the case. not everyone has the same capacity of receiving accusations, so it is safest not to jump and accuse your mate of having bad intentions, even if they have repeated similar mistakes in the past.

8. Jumping to conclusions. Presuming that you know what your partner feels — and why — without first getting all the facts is only going to push him or her away.

9. Badmouthing your spouse behind his or her back. This not only adds to the list of secrets you keep from your mate, but also tells others how little you respect your partner.

10. Thinking that doing something once is enough. If you only temporarily stop making the above mistakes — and don’t continue to monitor yourself to keep from slipping back into bad habits — If your spouse was satisfied with that last boquet of roses you bought her or that last set of golf clubs you got him, all signs point to the fact that giving and receiving gifts is a good thing. So keep it up! you’re teasing your partner with changing one time and going to the same old song and dance. You’re also kidding yourself that you’re committed to improving your marriage, when really you’re not.

An African Imam Breaks Ground In Mecca

 

 

 

 

 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

By ROBERT F. WORTH
Published: April 10, 2009

TWO years ago, Sheik Adil Kalbani dreamed that he had become an imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

Waking up, he dismissed the dream as a temptation to vanity. Although he is known for his fine voice, Sheik Adil is black, and the son of a poor immigrant from the Persian Gulf. Leading prayers at the Grand Mosque is an extraordinary honor, usually reserved for pure-blooded Arabs from the Saudi heartland.

Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/world/middleeast/11saudi.html?_r=1

My Sister Qamar Has Returned from Umrah and posted up her experience (and pics!!!)

Insh’Allah you can check it out here:

http://alqamardesigns.wordpress.com/

May Allah accept from her and her family and us all. ameen!

Vatican Offers Islamic Finance System To Western Banks

Vatican offers Islamic finance system to Western Banks

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601092&sid=aOsOLE8uiNOg&refer=italy

 

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/text.html

 

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3819

The Vatican says Islamic finance system may help Western banks in crisis as alternative to capitalistm. Friday, 06 March 2009 15:10 World Bulletin / News Desk The Vatican offered Islamic finance principles to Western banks as a solution for worldwide economic crisis. Daily Vatican newspaper, ‘L’Osservatore Romano, reported that Islamic banking system may help to overcome global crisis, Turkish media reported. The Vatican said banks should look at the ethical rules of Islamic finance to restore confidence amongst their clients at a time of global economic crisis. “The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service,” the Vatican ’s official newspaper Osservatore Romano said in an article in its latest issue late yesterday. Author Loretta Napoleoni and Abaxbank Spa fixed income strategist, Claudia Segre, say in the article that “Western banks could use tools such as the Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, as collateral”. Sukuk may be used to fund the “‘car industry or the next Olympic Games in London ,” they said. They also said that profit share, gained from sukuk, may be an alternative to the interest. They underlined that sukuk system could help automotive sector and support investments in infrastructure area. Islamic sukuk system is similar to bonos of capitalist system. But in sukuk, money is invested concrete projects and profit share is distributed to clients instead of interest earned. Pope Benedict XVI in an Oct. 7 speech reflected on crashing financial markets saying that “money vanishes, it is nothing” and concluded that “the only solid reality is the word of God.” The Vatican has been paying attention to the global financial meltdown and ran articles in its official newspaper that criticize the free-market model for having “grown too much and badly in the past two decades.” The Osservatore’s editor, Giovanni Maria Vian, said that “the great religions have always had a common attention to the human dimension of the economy,” Corriere della Sera reported today.

 

Everyone Speaks of Good Things-

Abdullah b. Mas’ûd – May Allah be pleased with him – said:

Everyone speaks of good things. It is those whose words and deeds match who have acquired their share. Those whose words and deeds do not match have only reproached themselves.

Ibn Al-Mubârak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqâ`iq Vol.1 p.153.

If I Were Courageous or Stupid

If I were couragous I would say everything on my mind. If I were couragous I would just let it fly and burn my bridges beyond repair. It shows toughness to hold your ground and argue unti the other person is tired of hearing your voice. Or does it? Is it courage or stupidity?

I bite my tongue more times in a day than I can count.  By no means am I perfect or immune to an outburst now and then. But in my opinion, holding your tongue takes more courage than wielding it as a sword. Of course, it all depends on the circumstances. But really, how many good reasons do we have to argue incessantly? No, mostly we make up reasons and we create our own little soap opera dramas to keep us entertained and make us feel special. How sad.

Just because I don’t lash out at others doesn’t mean I hold things inside and let them fester. On the contrary, I unload all that is on my mind when I’m angry and upset. Not to my best friend, not to my husband, not to my mentor but to Allah (SWT).  Take it to the prayer rug. That’s where you will find the only true relief and peace of mind.  Hasbi Allahu Wa Nimal Al Wakil   ”Allah Alone is Sufficient for us,and He is the Best Disposer of affairs(for us).”(3:173)

 

Narrated by Abu Musa Transmitted by Sahih BukhariSome people asked Allah’s Apostle (Sal-allahu-aleihi-wassallam), “Whose Islam is the best? i.e. (Who is a very good Muslim)?” He replied, “One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands.”

 

Narrated byAslam Malik transmitted it in al-Muwatta.(Mishkat)

One day when Umar went in to visit AbuBakr as-Siddiq and found him pulling his tongue, he said, “Stop! Allah forgive you!” AbuBakr replied to him, “This has brought me down to dangerous places.”

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it. (Mishkat)

Allah’s Messenger (Sal-allahu-aleihi-wassallam) said, “Do you know the thing which most commonly brings people into Paradise? It is fear of Allah and good character. Do you know what most commonly brings people into Hell? It is the two hollow things: the mouth and the private parts.”

Narrated byAbuHurayrah Ahmad and Bayhaqi, in Shu’ab al-Iman, transmitted it. (Mishkat)

A man said, “Messenger of Allah (Sal-allahu-aleihi-wassallam), such and such a woman has a reputation for engaging to a great extent in prayer, fasting and almsgiving but she annoys her neighbours with her tongue.” He replied, “She will go to Hell.” He said, “Messenger of Allah (Sal-allahu-aleihi-wassallam), such and such a woman has a reputation for engaging to a small extent in fasting, almsgiving and prayer, but she gives pieces of curd as sadaqah and does not annoy her neighbours with her tongue.” He replied, “She will go to Paradise.”

So, maybe the  person percieved as the coward is  courageous after all and maybe failing to control our tongues in order to keep up a fake bravado is making us losers in this world and the Hereafter.  We lose in this world by alienating friends and family. Because, really, who likes to be around someone who is constantly running off at the mouth. And we lose in the Hereafter, because one who talks so much is bound to make many mistakes such as backbiting, slandering, harming others with his or her tongue. Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment. It’s easy to go along with someone who is backbiting or slandering and indulge in it yourself. It’s hard to step back in the face of an argument (especially when you know you have valid points) for the sake of keeping peace. But, as with anything good that we hope to acheive, we have to work for it. We have to struggle to overcome obstacles in order to reach the ultimate bliss, Paradise.

 The Prophet (saw) said “Whoever can guarantee me two things I can guarantee them Paradise.” The companions asked “What O Messenger of Allah?” He replied “(That he can control) What is between his jaws (his tongue) and his legs (private parts).” (Bukhari)

Islam And Sex

Yeah, you read the title right. Islam and sex. No I don’t mean gender. This seems to be a topic that many imams and speakers don’t want to adress.  However, if you go to any fatwa site you will see scores of questions about sex. What is lawful and unlawful? Does the wife have rights over the man? What’s meant by angels curse a woman who doesn’t come to her husband’s bed when he calls? Those are some of the biggest questions that I have personally read.  Alhamdullilah, finally an imam has stepped up to the plate and decided to do an entire lecture series on the subject of Sex in Islam.

This course is now finished. However, you can review the videos/download the recordings from

www.sunnahfollowers.net

or

http://imamhasankhalil.wordpress.com/category/islam-sexual-relationship/

 

Topics discussed include:

importance of marriage
Sexual lust
sexual satisfaction for wives from an Islamic perspective
How to fulfill the husband sexual need during the menstrual cycle.
our prophet e the real husband
Islamic guide lines in intimate relations between husbands and wives
Real beauty in men and women according to Islam?
Real stories and light humor for all topics addressed
how can husbands and wives please each other
Permitted and forbidden sexual pleasures out side the wed lock.
Description of the best woman according to a Bedouin.
description of women according to age
How to choose your spouse according to Islam and a philosopher…And much more.

Sheikh Hasan Khalil is the Imam of Center Masjid in Arlington Texas
and also a regular speaker at sunnahfollowers.net

Great Women In Islam-The Hairdresser of Pharoah’s Daughter

It is narrated that Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, (may Allah bless and grant him peace) said, “On the night in which I was taken by a night Journey, a pleasant fragrance came my way, and so I said, “O Gabriel! What is this pleasant fragrance?”

He said, “This is the fragrance of the hairdresser of Pharaoh’s daughter, and [of the hairdresser]’s children.”

 

This is her story as narrated in a lecture by Bilal Assad based on a hadith found in Ahmad and Ibn Majah (see source below):

There was a women called Mashit of Firoun, she was a women who was the hairdresser of Firouns daughter, Pharaoh who said, I did not know any god but me, and Mashit of Firoun, this hairdresser, she had embraced Islam in secret and when she was combing the hair of the daughter of pharaoh the king, one who said that he is god, the comb fell to the ground and then she automatically sub consciously picked up the comb and said, Bismillah, in the name of Allah.

And this Mashit of Firoun this hairdresser had five children and one of them was still breast feeding and then the daughter of Firoun said, Allah Abi, are you saying Allah my father? And she said, No! Allah, the god of your father
and yourself and me and she became angry, she went to her father and said to him:
Father, this woman worships another god besides you, he said: What?
She knows another god besides me, who is that? Call her to me, and they called her to him.

And she came and stood, a woman, a woman brothers and sisters in front of this great Pharaoh. And he said to her, who is your god? And she said, Allah is my lord. He said who is Allah?
She said Allah is my god and yours. Yes, she was cornered and put in a place, when she had to answer, she answered, this how the state of the Mumin in the past and present are. When they said, Allah is my lord, they were tortured.

But we dont care.

Because we know what were heading towards, we know who are lord is and
we say what we believe, were not liars.

She said Allah, Allah is my lord and yours. And they said what? Bring the chains!
They brought the chains, they begun to punish her and whip her, who is your lord and she will say Allah is my lord and yours.

 
And so he ordered for them to bring a large container and he spilt boiling oil in to this container,  a large container like a swimming pool, and then he said, bring me all her children!
And they brought them one by one and he said worship me, I am your lord.
She said, never! So he brought her first son and he threw him in to the oil,
in front of her eyes his meat and his flesh fell of his body and his bone disintegrated, and then they brought her next son and she was firm, Allahu Akbar! They burnt him; she could not stop them, and then her third and then her fourth and finally her fifth, he was on her arm and she was about to pull back, she was about to pull back in front of the eyes of all the people and when all of a sudden and this is the Hadis of the prophet Muhammad (SAW), he said, all of a sudden, Allah (SWT) from above seven skies made her child speak while he was in the cradle, he said: Be patient my mother, you are in the truth, Allah Allah has promised you with a great heaven, keep going mother.
And then they threw her son in to the boiling oil and she was next,
she knew that she was going to die, and then she begun to cry and Pharaoh said, why are you crying?
Stop! And she said, I was crying because I want to ask you to do something for me, and I dont know if youre going to do it, he said, ask me for whatever you like, she said, once you throw me in to the oil, then I want you to gather whatever is remaining of our bodies and I want you to bury us together in the same grave, because I want to be resurrected with my children and I want to go to Jannah with my children.

 Video of her story:

Hadith can be found: Imam Ahmad has narrated in his Musnad (Book of Hadith 1/310) [and a similar narration is in Ibn Majah (4020)]

Categorize The People In Your Life

Unnecessary companionship is a chronic disease that causes much harm. How often have the wrong kind of companionship and intermixing deprived people of Allâh’s generosity, planting discord in their hearts which even the passage of time-even if it were long enough for mountains to be worn away-has been unable to dispel. In keeping such company one can find the roots of loss, both in this life and in the next life.

A servant should benefit from companionship. In order to do so he should divide people into four categories, and be careful not to get them mixed up, for once one of them is mixed with another, then evil can find its way through to him:

The FIRST category are those people whose company is like food: it is indispensable, night or day. Once a servant has taken his need from it, he leaves it be until he requires it again, and so on. These are the people with knowledge of Allâh-of His commands, of the scheming of His enemies, and of the diseases of the heart and their remedies- who wish well for Allâh, His Prophet saw and His servants. Associating with this type of person is an achievement in itself.

The SECOND category are those people whose company is like a medicine. They are only required when a disease sets in. When you are healthy, you have no need of them. However, mixing with them is sometimes necessary for your livelihood, businesses, consultation and the like. Once what you need from them has been fulfilled, mixing with them should be avoided.

The THIRD category are those people whose company is harmful. Mixing with this type of person is like a disease, in all its variety and degrees and strengths and weaknesses. Associating with one or some of them is like an incurable chronic disease. You will never profit either in this life or in the next life if you have them for company, and you will surely lose either one or both of your deen and your livelihood because of them. If their companionship has taken hold of you and is established, then it becomes a fatal, terrifying sickness.

Amongst such people are those who neither speak any good that might benefit you, nor listen cloesly to you so that they might benefit from you. They do not know their souls and consequently put their selves in their rightful place. If they speak, their words fall on their listeners’ hearts like the lashes of a cane, while all the while they are full of admiration for and delight in their own words.

They cause distress to those in their company, while believing that they are the sweet scent of the gathering. If they are silent, they are heavier than a massive millstone-too heavy to carry or even drag across the floor. 

All in all, mixing with anyone who is bad for the soul will not last, even if it is unavoidable. It can be one of the most distressing aspects of a servant’s life that he is plagued by such person, with whom it may be necessary to associate. In such a relationship, a servant should cling to good behaviour, only presenting him with his outward appearance, while disguising his inner soul, until Allâh offers him a way out of his affliction and the means of escape from this situation.

The FOURTH category are those people whose company is doom itself. It is like taking poision: its victim either finds an antidote or perishes. Many people belong to this category. They are the people of religious innovation and misguidance, those who abandon the sunnah of the Messenger of Allâh saw and advocate other beliefs. They call what is the sunnah a bid’a and vice-versa. A man with any intellect should not sit in their assemblies nor mix with them. The result of doing so will either be the death of his heart or, at the very best, its falling seriously ill.

Taken from the book “Purification of the Soul”, one of the great books on the matters of the heart. The book is a compilation of the works of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalî, Ibn Al-Qayyim al-Jawzî and Abî Hamîd al-Ghazalî