Texas Dawah Convention just partnered up with MuslimMatters.org to produce for the initial reliease of the audios for the lectures that have been recorded in TDC 06 and TDC 07. And to get a feeling for what to expect this year, go to www.texasdawah.org and download other ‘07 lectures for free. They will host 2 new lectures every friday starting this up coming Friday inshaAllah.

Texas Dawahs next convention will take place in Houston, Texas on Dec. 25th to Dec 27th. Three days full of ilm and Islamic enviroment. This year’s theme is It Takes a Village: Community in Focus. The program as well as the list of speakers will soon be hosted on their website www.texasdawah.org
For more details, please feel free to contact them at info@texasdawah.org.

We will also be broadcasting this talk on our podcast, so make sure to subscribe if you have not because we will be broadcasting more talks from last years convention insha’Allah.

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[Image Credit: umar nasir]

As a nice refresher, below are some posts related to fiqh, some of its subtleties and the attitude one should have with regards to it.

We Hear and We Obey
A Simple Matter of Disagreement?
Of Mice and Men: The Cheese Factor

In this khutbah, Sheikh Younus Kathrada from Dar al-Madinah Islamic Society of Vancouver, Canada, shares the divine wisdom behind trials and tribulations, explaining how to deal with calamities in an Islamic manner.

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Otherwise you can download the mp3 file direct - but we strongly urge you to subscribe above, as most of our future audio content will only be available via podcast. It’s a simple, fast and free way to get your MM audio fix, insha’Allah - so sign up today!

[Image Credit: CJohnson7]

Check out the previous papers,

• Nurayn (DC/Maryland)
  
• Hosna (Houston)
  
• Ittihad (Windsor/Dearborn)
• Haadi #1 (San Fransisco)

On the topic of ‘aql and rationale

By: Abd-Allah Muhammad bin Abdul Karim and Hazreen Haizi binti Harith

Verses that contain the word ‘aql (‘ain-qaf-lam) or its derivatives are 50 in the Quran. Verses that contain any word that have similar meaning, like fikr (fa-kaf-ra), faqaha (fa-qaf-ha), dhikr (dha-kaf-ra), lubb (lam-ba-ba) or it’s plural, albab are numerous, which shows that the concept of thinking is indeed highly promoted in the Quran. However, for the purpose of simplicity, only verses containing the word ‘aql or its derivatives were analyzed for this paper, which is a total of 50 verses.

The word ‘aql means intellect or reason, or to restrain. The use of ‘aql is encouraged in the Quran, as mentioned when Allah says: ‘And We have certainly left of it a sign as clear evidence for a people who use reason.’ (29:35). In all 50 verses, it was concluded that they could be divided into 2 main categories, which are 1) verses inviting mankind in general to use their ‘aql and reflect upon the creations and signs of Allah, and 2) verses addressing specific groups of people with regards to the use of their ‘aql. (more…)

Download the latest MM podcast to hear Sh. Yaser Birjas talk about the importance of physical fitness in Islam.

Does that mean the MM Staff have to start dieting now?

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This is a winning paper from the Heavenly Hues AlMaghrib course in Qabeelat Haadi.

Check out the previous papers,

• Nurayn
• Hosna
• Ittihad

The Concept of Justice in Islam

A Comprehensive Study of the Related Ayaat in the Quran
by: Hebba Choudhry & Mubashir Hussain

Introduction

Imagine waking up one morning to the sound of gunshots. A man has just been killed. You pass by a home where you hear some children crying, orphaned, and left alone to suffer because of the crimes of other people. On the other side of town, you witness a home that has just been robbed, its residents thrown out mercilessly. You walk past a quiet street and see a car that has been vandalized, its windows broken to shattered glass. Now, just for a moment, stop imagining, switch on the TV, and go watch the news. Chances are you will see all this happening right in front of your eyes, and even more, in our very real world!

Injustice is very widespread on this earth. There can be no peace without the firm establishment of justice. The more you see injustice, the more you realize the importance of establishing justice in the land. When mankind lacks guidance on how to live their lives, the entire structure of society is damaged. Allah (swt) has sent down the Quran as guidance for all of mankind, with all the rules and regulations we need to stay on the right track. Islam is a very complete way of life. Every rule that is good for humanity has been ordained in the Shariah of Allah (swt). Everything we need, in order to live successfully, can be found in the Quran. Amongst these very important divinely instructed laws is the law of establishing justice. (more…)

Stop Bill C-50 from being passed!

Bill C-50 is an alarming piece of legislation that every Canadian who believes in fairness, openness and multiculturalism should oppose. The final date for the public to oppose this is Wednesday, June 4. Please send your Member of Parliament an email or faxed copy of the letter template enclosed below ASAP.

You can find your MP’s information:
Liberal Party: http://www.liberal.ca/members_e.aspx
Conservative Party: http://www.conservative.ca/?section_id=1051®ionId=32&submit.x=20&submit.y=4
New Democratic Party: http://www.ndp.ca/myriding/lookup

Click here for LETTER TEMPLATE (jazakAllah khair to brother Dawud Israel).

Additional Information for Community Members

Recently the Conservative government introduced a series of amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), buried in Bill c-50, a 136-page “budget implementation bill.” This fundamentally undemocratic move sneaks in critical changes to Canada’s immigration policy without proposing any of those changes before Parliament. By making it a matter of confidence, the government forces Opposition parties to either accept them or call an election.

This series of amendments places more arbitrary power in the hands of the Immigration Minister:

-Sec. 25 currently says that the Minister “shall” examine a Humanitarian and Compassionate application– this is changed to “shall” examine the H&C application if the applicant is in Canada, but only “may” examine the application if the applicant is outside Canada.

-Proposed s. 87.3 of the Act will allow the Minister to issue “instructions” setting quotas on the “category” of person that can enter Canada – including quotas based on country of origin.

-Ministerial power in deciding the order in which new applications are processed, regardless of when they were filed. This means prioritizing immigration applicants based on their ability to fulfill the needs of the Canadian job market, “whether it’s people to wash dishes and make sandwiches, or whether it’s the highly skilled engineers”, as stated by Minister Diane Finley. This is a profoundly dehumanizing and racist conception of immigrants as disposable commodities.

-New sections 87.3 (4) and (5) of the IRPA would allow the Minister to simply hold on to, return, or throw out a visa application and deny any opportunity to review that decision in Court.

For more information read:

http://www.thestar.com/article/415406
http://www.newsocialist.org/index.php?id=1570
http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=71224

(more…)

Let’s also keep in mind our relationship with Allah, from oldie-goldies:

• Developing Consciousness of Allāh
• Al-Junayd on the Love of Allah
  
• Ma`rifah: Being Acquainted with Allah