Al-Hamdulillaah, I just recently found an English translation of the nasheed and - better yet! - the story behind the song. Here it is below, for those like me who love the great tales of the ‘abideen and mujahideen, whose histories are a shining inspiration for us all.

Ya Abed al-Haramain

In Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir (specifically his chapter on the last ayaat of Surah al-Imraan), he mentions the following story:

Al-Hafiz ibn `Asakir mentioned in the biography of `Abdullah bin al-Mubarak, that Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Abi Sakinah said,

“While in the area of Tarsus, `Abdullah bin al-Mubarak dictated this poem to me when I was greeting him goodbye. He sent the poem with me to al-Fudhayl bin`Iyad in the year 170:

O Worshipper of the Two Holy Masjids!
Had you witnessed us in the battlefield
You would have known that, compared to our Jihad,
Your worship is child’s play.
For every tear you have shed upon your cheek,
We have shed in its place, blood upon our chests.
You are playing with your worship,
While worshippers offer your worship
Mujahideen offer their blood and person (life).
The smell of nice perfume of is for you,
And our perfume is the dust and dirt (which is more pure),
And it has reached us from the sayings of our Prophet,
The martyr is not dead,
This is a true correct saying, in which there is no lie.
The dust of the people of Allah is never equal,
To a thousand men, whilst the smoke is climbing.
This is the book of Allah between us,
The martyr is not dead - and this is no lie.

“I met al-Fudayl ibn `Iyad in the Sacred Masjid and gave him the leter. When he read it, his eyes became tearful and he said, ‘Abu `Abdur-Rahman (`Abdullah bin al-Mubarak) has said the truth and offered sincere advice to me.’ He then asked me, ‘Do you write the Hadeeth?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Write this Hadeeth as reward for delivering the letter of Abu `Abdur-Rahman to me.’ He then dictated,

‘Mansur bin al-Mu`tamir narrated to us that Abu Saalih narrated from Abu Hurayrah that a man asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Teach me a good deed that will earn me the reward of the Mujahideen in Allah’s cause.’

The Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said, ‘Are you able to pray continuously and fast without breaking the fast?’ The man said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! I cannot bear it.’

The Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said,

‘By He in Whose Hand is my soul! Even if you were able to do it, you would not achieve the grade of the Mujahideen in Allah’s cause. Did you not know that the horse of the Mujaahid earns rewards for him as long as it lives?’” [Ahmad]

YouTube Direktvideo link

Note: The authenticity of the story is doubted; however, I thought it’d be interesting to mention it anyway considering it’s presence in Tafsir Ibn Kathir and the popularity of the nasheed itself.

For Muslims the issue is more serious than for others, since the importance of overall hygiene - and specifically oral hygiene - is strongly emphasized in the Sunnah of our beloved Rasool (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). And as with everything else, the best of solutions lies not in the latest bacteria-fighting invention, but in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

So what, you ask, is the solution presented to us 1400 years ago? It is called… the siwaak. Basically, it’s a twig taken from certain kinds of trees and usually available at your local masjid, Islamic centre, halaal-imports/ exports/ meat/ corner store, and generous uncles who always have a spare in their shalwar kamees pocket 

Better than a toothbrush any day - because it’s 100% natural and environmentally friendly, and doesn’t need a cumbersome routine involving toothpaste and water to rinse (not to mention mentally humming “Twinkle twinkle little star” so that you remember how long you’re supposed to brush) - the practice and benefits of the tooth stick are well-documented.

Far more importantly, however, is simply the fact that using the siwaak was something the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) loved to do, and urged his Ummah to do, whether at home, at the Masjid, or alone.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Were it not for the fact that I did not want to make things too hard for my ummah, I would have commanded them to use the siwaak at every time of prayer.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/299 and Muslim, 1/151). According to another report narrated by al-Bukhaari, he said: “…at every time of making wudoo’.”

‘Aa’ishah was asked what the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did when he first came home. She said, “When he entered his house, the first thing he would do was to use the siwaak.” (Reported by Muslim, 1/220).

When getting up from sleep. Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) got up during the night, he would clean his mouth thoroughly with the siwaak. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1/98 and Muslim, 1/220)

Here’s a lesser-known hadeeth regarding the siwaak and its spiritual as well as physical effects.

As soon as the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) got up for Qiyam al-Layl, he would brush his teeth with a siwaak and perform wudhu, he (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: “When one of you gets up to pray at night, let him use a siwaak (to clean his teeth), because when he recites during the prayer, the angel puts his mouth over his, so that nothing leaves his mouth but will enter into the angel’s mouth.” [(saheeh) by Shaikh al-Albanee (al-Bayhaqee and others)]

So what are you waiting for? Go and brush your teeth!

I first came across the munaqqabah mutant when avidly devouring the graphic novel collection of The New X-Men: Hellions. I was stunned and delighted to discover the existence of a character who is not only a strong, intelligent young woman but is a practicing Muslimah to boot - who makes it clear to readers why she chooses to observe correct hijaab.

(Source)

Here’s a bit more info about my new favourite superhero (Wiki bio):

Dust is an adolescent Sunni Muslim girl who possesses the mutant power to turn herself into a sand-like substance. Born in Afghanistan, Sooraya is kidnapped by a slave-trading ring after she is separated from her mother. While one of her slavers tries to remove her niqāb, she instinctively lashes out with her powers and flays them all alive with her dust form before passing out. She is subsequently discovered and rescued by Wolverine and Fantomex. Wolverine takes her to the X-Corps base in India. Sooraya hides herself from the X-Men stationed there by turning into sand and spreading herself around the complex. Phoenix senses Sooraya’s presence and telepathically convinces her to reveal herself to everyone present. Sooraya reforms and announces her presence by speaking a single word: Turaab (Arabic for dust).

More here at her official Marvel database page.

If you’re as nerdy as I am, then no doubt you find it pretty darn cool… but of course there’s always that doubt that springs up immediately after you get excited about how there’s finally some positive representation of Muslims in the media (as fictional as it may be!) - how long it will be before the desire to make “Dust” more sexy overtakes any desire for editors to keep up with her proper hijab? How long before the commercial need to sell femininity, as is the case with all other female superheroes with exaggerated figures to make them more desiring for teen boys, will cause Dust’s abaaya to be a figure-hugging uniform? In the world of reel-bad Arabs, it may be a small consolation to see at least an attempt to sell the hijab in a positive manner, but how sincere and long-lasting will the effort be?

Some artists depict Sooraya’s abaya incorrectly, having it tightly cinched around her waist and breasts, which questionably disregards the purpose of wearing an abaya.

Ah well… for now I’m just glad that we’ve got Muslimaat represent in the comic book world - boo yah!

The advent of summer being well upon us, school’s going to be out and kids are going to have a lot more time on their hands - time that can be used in either good, or bad. Insha’Allah, this is our opportunity to give Da’wah to our youth… and here’s how!

The Youth Outreach Program of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)

Youth Outreach - Best Practices?

Children Driving You Crazy? A Sheikh’s Beautiful Advice…

Ressurect the old discussions with new contributions, or be totally random and surprise us all!

Please excuse me while I rush off to the bathroom and proceed to barf up the remains of my dinner. Indeed, that’s how I feel after having read the above news article.

Apparently, Mubin is such a good Canadian boy - how could we ever doubt his word? Goodness me, the dear lad cannot even bring himself to say the word “Negro” (or the more derogatory derivative thereof)… such are his sensibilities. A lewd joke further increases his credibility in the eyes of the reporter (it served as a reminder that one can be an observant Muslim and have a sense of humour).

But oh hey, let’s forget the fact that he’s a crack addict and a history of violence! Sssshhhh, don’t you know that it has nothing to do with the trial at all? Stop bringing up irrelevant facts! Oops, wait, it’s not that irrelevant after all - turns out that the reason he took on the case was so that he could score enough cash to pay for his addiction.

The media, however, is quick to forgive their darling for anything that could possibly hurt his reputation; although his beard, “Islamic dress” and certain other glaringly obvious signs of “Muslim-ness” are usually things used to belittle Muslims in the media, in this case the fact that he gleefully entrapped his brothers in Islam and created this whole mess trumps it all. Mind you, Mr. Sheikh does have a way with words; an eloquence that cannot be denied… and unfortunately, this contributes a great deal to the masses acceptance of what he has to say. How he says things, as opposed to the veracity of what he says, is what affects the audience the most. As the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “Indeed, in eloquence there is magic.” (Abu Dawood, Ahmad)

What interests me is that Mr. Sheikh’s testimony (summarized below), is given far more attention and less scrutiny than that of the defense lawyers’. Although it’s been noted over and over again that the entire “plot” was haphazard, foolish, and quite unlikely to happen in real life, the media loves returning to the original picture painted - that of a group of dangerous young Muslim men plotting to commit some drastic act of terrorize on Canadian soil… indeed, in the initial stages, the case was labelled as some kind of Canadian version of al-Qaeda.

According to the media’s twisted sense of (il)logic, Mubin Sheikh’s testimony simply reinforces that idea, despite the fact that anyone objectively scrutinizing the details of the case (the public details, anyway) would easily come to the conclusion that - assuming these young men really did harbour those feelings and wished to plan such an attack - it had absolutely no chance of success… that is, until Messrs. Sheikh and Unknown Informant #2 conveniently arrived on the scene with military experience, weapons licences, and the funds to obtain ingredients for bombs - all these being previously unavailable to the group.

In any case, let’s quickly summarize the main points of Mr. Sheikh’s testimony.

• The plot was already developed before he became involved. Targets were identified, method of procedure decided upon, and claims were made of weapons caches acquired (never materialized, however).
• A group of youth attended a 12 day “military camp” somewhere in Northern Ontario, where they played paintball as a simulation of live combat and watched “Jihadi videos.” Oh, and they made frequent trips to the nearest Tim Horton’s for hot chocolate.
• The ringleader of the group claimed to have been overseas in Afghanistan, and to have “Jihadi contacts” and “links” to shuyookh in Saudi Arabia.
• The leader (mentioned above) was extremely emotional - at one point Mr. Sheikh questions his mental health, citing a possible imbalance.
• Several individuals known to have access to weapons were identified for recruitment.

Something to note is that on one hand, Mr. Sheikh presents the group as being weak, inexperienced, and incompetent; on the other hand he argues that they were dangerous and their attempts were serious enough to be successful.

Although the inconsistencies and glaringly obvious weaknesses in the case are clear to anyone who scrutinizes the known facts, it is yet to be seen how the court case will play out and what the fate of the remaining suspects will be. AlHamdulillaah, 7 of those involved have had their charges stayed/ dismissed; Allah only knows if those currently in custody will be able to follow suit.

Hijaab

This article published in the Slate by Andrea Useem, titled “Loving and Leaving the Head Scarf,”is a personal and anecdotal analysis of women and their journey towards - and away from - hijaab. I personally found it unique in that though the emphasis is more on those who stop observing hijaab, the author does make a point of mentioning why she and others wore it in the first place, and includes Allah’s commands regarding it in Surah an-Noor and al-Ahzab. Nonetheless, it seems that despite knowledge (and acknowledgement) of its obligation, many women still choose to remove the hijaab because they feel that the only reason they’re wearing it is to fit in with the rest of the community; or that other Muslims’ judgement of them based on hijaab (whether they wear it or not) took away from its real meaning and thus rendered the observation of hijaab insincere and to be re-evaluated.

Some may say that it’s better for a woman who, despite knowing the obligation of hijaab, still doesn’t wear it purely for the sake of Allah but rather moreso to fit in, to take it off… but recalling verse 14 of surah al-Hujaraat (The desert Arabs say, “We believe.” Say, “Ye have no faith; but ye say, ‘We have submitted our wills to Allah,’ For not yet has Faith entered your hearts. But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught of your deeds: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”), I’m inclined to think that once it’s been established that Allah has ordered something, you do it - whether or not you’re entirely convinced of your own sincerity. Again, a question: would it not be better for someone to continue wearing the hijaab and struggle with it and related personal issues, than to remove it completely because it’ll relieve her of those issues she’s dealing with?

Personally, I say that once you have acknowledged the commands of Allah, then that’s it: you should be wearing it no matter what others say or how you look at it. If you’re rebellious enough to take off the hijaab, surely you can be rebellious enough to fight against whoever or whatever it is that’s making you want to take it off! However, this attitude is based on the assumption that the reason for wearing hijaab has been conviction in the orders of Allah - to wear it for His Sake for the reasons that He explained to us. I guess it’s different for those who wear/ wore it just because they’re told to or forced to, as an expression of rebellion or conformity, or to work out their identity issues.

Furthermore, what can we say of the intention/ sincerity of those who wear it as an expression of rebellion (or conformity, as the case may be)? Can we say anything about them? Should we say anything about it? Or should we instead be more understanding that an individual’s personal circumstances change and their emaan fluctuates, which is then reflected in their actions?

I’m sure many of us have heard stories of those who have just accepted Islam, or just started practicing the Deen fully, were immediately pushed to wear the hijaab and did so out of pressure - only to take it off later. Such anecdotes make me feel sad, yet a bit confused also: on one hand, I don’t want to be harsh and judgemental (the same attitude that caused such damage in the the first place); on the other hand, I’m fully convinced that hijaab is waajib upon women and that to not wear it is a sin. Wisdom is required to handle such a situation if we’re faced with it (either within ourselves, or with a family member or friend).

If we look at this without focusing specifically on hijaab, we can see what the main point is: that of intention and sincerity.

Has anyone here gone through(or is going through) such a struggle with hijaab and related issues of faith, rebellion, and identity? How did you get through it? What was the final outcome?

Non-Muslims tend to get even more excited about prom than their grad ceremony… girls are picking out dresses, dates, and flowers while boys try to work out the nerve to ask out so-and-so to the dance. The whole school is buzzing with juicy gossip, posters plastered all over the place, and the hype is dizzying. And our young Muslim brothers and sisters? They watch from afar, sometimes contemptuously or pitying or even totally uncaringly, but many times with twinges of envy and guilt as they wish they had something that exciting to look forward to.

I’ve heard suggestions that Muslims have their own alterna-proms: segregated 100% halaal events where young Muslim grads can have the “grad night party experience” for themselves. In fact, I think several masaajid and Islamic centres already organize such events. However, I was wondering - why the need to have our own version of something that’s based on haraam-ness from beginning to end? Why are we so eager to imitate the kuffaar in something which even many of them dread (horror stories of wet grads and date rapes abound every year)? Are we that caught up in the culture, without the confidence to be proudly and Islamically non-conformist? (more…)

Come one, come all, to the 2008 Regional Muslim Youth Conference: Building Tomorrow Together. (more…)

“Wal ‘Asr…” “WatTeeni wazZaytoon…” “WadhDhuha… walLayli ithaa sajaa…” “Wal Fajr…” “WashShamsi wa DhuHaahaa…”

By Time… By the fig and the olive… By the morning brightness, by the night and its darkness… By the dawn… By the sun and its brightness…!

Since the beginning of existence, mankind has been fascinated by the world around us and most if not all of us have realized at one point that none of this could exist without Someone being responsible for it all - however, whether we follow up on that realization by acknowledging Allah as the only One worthy of worship is another matter altogether. Anyway, the point is that the universe we live in is a miracle in and of itself, such that it is within humankind’s nature that we observe it in awe and appreciation.

Yet I have noticed a disturbing trend within myself and others, something which causes this aspect of the fitrah to be… well, quashed, I guess you could say.

Here’s an example: (more…)

But hey, this is nothing new. It’s been around for a while… and I think that many of us - including myself! - have become somewhat desensitized to this. There are times that we’ll remember how bad it is, but what usually happens is that we cluck over it for a bit and then get distracted by the many other problems we’re facing.

Now, however, I’d like to take the time to address this issue from a couple different angles - both a psychosocial and religious point of view.

In Wendy Shalit’s book “Girls Gone Mild,” she discusses the culture of hypersexualization: how it’s being promoted, through both media and consumerism, how it’s permeated society, and how it has so dangerously affected our lives and mentalities. This article (hat-tip to Nasim Choudhury) makes similar points - the psychosocial ramifications of hypersexualized culture are already evident and recognized even by non-Muslims.

Awareness of sexuality is occurring at (more…)