And by the way, for this argument between the 2 brothers (Amad and Abdullah) – the answer to all this is very simple. Timing. And actually, in his last comment, Br. Amad pointed out this vital aspect. By the way, this is something that the Ahlul-’Ilm have discussed and many Muslims [even those who 'claim' to be righteous, practicing and knowledgable] are ignorant of! Yes, the Deen has many parts. But there is a time for everything. You have to talk about issues are their proper place. This is definitely not the place to talk about sutrah. Please understand this.

* But anyway, this was a very awesome set of pics. Thank you again, and may Allah give relief to our brothers/sisters in Gaza. Ameen! Ameen! Ameen! And may He destroy the Zhalimeen [oppressors, tyrants] and those who hurt them.

Beautiful as always. (Psst, now i know where the Muslim Link front page cover image came from) :)

these are really nice pics, the argument between Abd- Allah and Amad is really funny. LOL. the point is pretty clear but the sutrah part, well that’s also clear!

Br. Abd-Allah:

BTW, I don’t know why, but I do feel the hate you have for me brother Amad, I can even feel it through the internet. Please now, don’t try to deny it as that only adds insult to injury. The best thing you can do is to try and change those feelings in your heart towards me, because it is not good to have feelings of hate in your heart towards your muslim brothers.

I don’t know where to start. You “feel” that I hate you, and then it becomes such a concrete position, that I cannot deny it, because that will only make things worse. Well, let that be then, because I have absolutely no hatred for you. If I started hating people with whom I disagree with, then I won’t be able to sleep at night with the huge list of people to hate! I do think that you are short-sighted in some of your views, and that you are not looking at the big picture, but that doesn’t mean I hate you. It just means I disagree with you.

On this subject, let me explain. Suppose you go into a city where all the buildings are completely dilapidated. You know for a fact that the city ordinances and laws, if followed, would never have allowed that to happen. Then you go into a building where someone is trying to fix a door-knob or some other small improvement, and as soon as you enter the building, you start bemoaning, “just go back to the code”, “just go back to the ordinances”. The guys fixing up tell you that they don’t disagree with you, but they have to make their little small change, their little small improvement. They remind you that just by pointing out the condition of the building and the need to go back to the ordinances won’t change anything. That is apriori. It is known. What is required is to do what you can. And while you are there seeing them fix this door-knob, you tell them that the door-knob is just not the right color. And they look at you in amazement… are you serious? At least they are doing something, appreciate that, and then when next time you are with them at the market to buy door-knobs, you could tell them to buy the right color, but what is the point at this time?

I hope you see what I am getting at. We all recognize the need to go back to the deen, but that’s a hollow statement because it doesn’t imply a specific course of action or change. Rather, we work up the ladder, the big, fat juicy issues first, and then the less important things later. If you try to jump to the top of the ladder too fast, skipping all the rungs at the bottom, you are setting yourself for a big fall.

I don’t want to argue with you on this. So, if this doesn’t make sense, let’s just agree to disagree and move on. May Allah forgive us all for our shortcomings.

It is important to remember that we should all use our skills and access to different media in defense of our brothers and sisters. That is why I entitled my essay “Defending Gaza in Washington D.C.” Allah has given each and every one of us a skill or bounty (it may not be money). I used a gift and skill that Allah (swt) gave me to make a difference. And I was overjoyed to see the video made by iMuslim, and the articles and poetry written by various MM staff.

Changing the munkar with our hands includes clicking shutters of cameras, typing up articles and poetry, and stretching out our hands to drop money in donation boxes.

The effort may be futile, but Allah does not judge us on the futility of the effort. He judges us on its performance and sincerity.

And Allah knows best!

Mashaallah!! Excellent pictures!! It`s sad that Washington Post doesn`t `even reported this rally in it`s newspaper…Allah swt is sufficient for us ..Allah swt always looks at the intention of the heart…So don`t `judge anyone…Always guide our lost brothers and sisters but don`t Judge …

Salaam.