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  • http://fajr.6te.net Fajr Breeze – Yuxx

    very good mashâa’ Allâh

    • abdinoor

      who is islam

  • Middle Ground

    Salam

    Mashallah, this is a good idea to encourage us all. May I make a few suggestions?

    1. Do this every day, and see which direction the trend goes.
    2. Offer the following options: Yes, Yes but only had time for fard rakats, Yes and prayed in the masjid, No.

    • http://muslimmatters.org/author/amad/ Amad

      We took a variation of your thoughts to see in which area we can help our readers for the Fajr poll

    • sabirah

      i still don’t get why people find it so difficult to pray fajr. it’s the only salah that I find easy to pray on time.
      alarm>>stretch>>du’a>>feed cats (coz they will be annoying otherwise)>>wudu>>fajr>>coffee>>check emails>>bathroom>>work. Am I abnormal?? What’s so difficult?

      • Mohammed Siddiqui

        MashaAllah. Perfect. Keep it up.

  • http://sayingsofthesalaf.net Sahra

    THE MAJORITY IS NOT PROOF THAT SOMETHING IS CORRECT

    Then We have put you (O Muhammad SAW) on a plain way of (Our) commandment [like the one which We commanded Our Messengers before you (i.e. legal ways and laws of the Islâmic Monotheism)]. So follow you that (Islâmic Monotheism and its laws), and follow not the desires of those who know not. [Tafsir At-Tabarî Vol. 25, Page 146]. (Al-Jathiyah 45:18)

    Adhering to the Understanding of the Companions
    May Allaah have mercy upon you. Know that the Religion is what came from Allaah, the Blessed and Most High. It is not something left to the intellect and opinions of men. Knowledge it is what comes from Allaah and His Messenger, so do not follow anything based upon your desires and so deviate away from the Religion and leave Islaam. There will be no excuse for you since Allaah’s Messenger explained the Sunnah to his Ummah and made it clear to his Companions and they are the Jamaa’ah, and they are the Main Body (as-Sawaad ul-A’dham), and the Main Body is the truth and its followers.[1]

    So he who contradicts the Companions of Allaah’s Messenger sallallahu alaihiwasallam in any of the affairs of the Religion, then he has fallen into disbelief.[2]

    {Explanation of the Creed, Imaam Al-Barbahaaree)

    From the characteristics of the people of the Days of Ignorance is that they would view the majority as proof that something was true and the minority as proof hat something was false. So according to them, whatever the majority of the people was upon, that was the truth. And whatever the minority was upon, that was not the truth. In their eyes, this was the balance used to determine truth from falsehood. However, this is wrong, for Allaah says: “And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allaah’s path. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie.” [Surah Al-An’aam: 116]

    Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatahu,

    May Allah have mercy on you – As your sister in Islam, I am prohibited from withholding naseeha. As such, I must make mention of the fact that not only is it of no benefit to poll the readers on their OPINION of what the correct hijab is, it is also dangerous. Following popular opinion regarding Islam gets us where exactly?.

    Deen is whatsoever came from Allah and His Messenger. It’s no befitting to ask the people of their opinion on a matter that has already been decreed. Any questions based on deen, addressed to the general populace, beginning with the phrase, what do you think’, is wrong. Don’t take my word for it. Read the books of the Sunnah and the statements of the Pious Predecessors (the Salaf).

    Barak’Allahu feekum.

    May Allah unite us upon His Straight Path and give us the baseerah (light( by which to understand His Deen.

    Ameen!

  • UmmZayn

    ^ I think it is more to SEE what are the commonly held views of the community, not to assert a “winning opinion” based on what the majority vote for! The majority of people might vote on a given day that they did not wake up for Fajr that morning –no one would ever think that this poll is trying to indicate that because the majority didnot wake up for Fajr that day that this is the correct behavior or “answer”! You might think that everyone wakes up for Fajr, but an anonymous poll can help show the reality and once a problem is identified, solutions for it can be found. You might think that everyone knows what the minimum hijab requirements are, but an anonymous poll can help show the reality and once a problem is identified, solutions for it can be found

  • sabirah

    salam
    mashaAllah, I like the polls, however I’d like to add that they are to be taken with a grain of salt. A poll maybe interesting but the result only as truthful or serious as the medium (in our case an often troll infested internet) and as interesting as the (variety of) questions.
    It can serve as a quick click opportunity for someone to voice a stand/opinion without having to write a lot of stuff in a comment which is often not necessary and tiresome to read.
    I don’t quite understand Sarah’s comment, it’s not a poll that calls to follow the “mainstream opinon” and a free medium which allows to voice an opinion (comments on a blog) allows you post the above. If you are against people voicing their opinions on matters that shouldn’t be discussed, why are you commenting and browsing blogs where those matters are extensively overdiscussed? Obviously those are not clear to everyone to the same extend as for you.

    so… anyone offering a bit of an analysis? Any “sad state of the ummah” essays? ;)

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  • tina

    I dot have the c alendar fo r ramadan plz happ

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  • Basil W.

    I’m writing to express my strong displeasure at the current poll question regarding the righteous freedom movement in Bahrain. The fact that this question is even posed speaks volumes about the mindset of the administrators of the site. To even question whether or not the Bahraini uprising should be supported, with the implicit idea that because it’s Shia led it is potentially open to being discredited, is hypocritical of a website that has the slogan “because Muslims matter”; perhaps they should change it to “because Sunnis matter.”

    This is especially bothersome in light of the unwavering support the administrators of the site give to the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, all nations where the protesters are homogeneously Sunni, yet when a the Bahraini population, of which 70% of the native population is Shia, rises up AGAINST state instituted blatant sectarianism being put forth by the oppressive Sunni Khalifa family, then “muslimmatters” has the audacity to leave open the idea that the protesters are the ones being sectarian.

    Shame on the administrators of the site, and shame on anyone who doesn’t support the righteous uprising of the Bahraini people out underlying sectarian prejudices.

    • http://muslimmatters.org/author/amad/ Amad

      The “freedom movement” may be righteous for you Basil, but you should be prepared to accept that it may not be righteous for others, for whatever reasons. In the case of Egypt & Tunisia, the “others” also existed but as a very small minority. In the case of Bahrain, as you can see by the poll itself, there is much more doubt about the intentions behind this movement. Perhaps there are those who don’t support it because of sectarian reasons, but you cannot discount that there may be sincere people who don’t support this because they feel the movement itself is driven out of sectarian reasons. I hope you see the difference.

      Polls are there not to make a judgement but to gauge sentiment. The response to this poll and the poll on Egypt should tell you something.

      Finally, it should be clear that the writers of MM are upon the ahl-sunnah wal-jamaah track and as such (and this poll isn’t one of them) our articles will naturally be inclined by that track.

      • Basil W.

        I don’t understand why you put scare quotes around ‘freedom movement.’ Furthermore, you should be prepared to accept that many people will call out the hypocrisy of those (presumably you being on those who aren’t “prepared to accept” the righteousness of the oppressed calling for freedom purely due to an underlying sectarian hatred) who selectively endorse one uprising over another purely based on sectarian prejudice.

        And perhaps you could elaborate (not necessarily on this forum, but perhaps in article) your reasoning for denying the the grievances of the Shia community in Bahrain, so as to make clear why those self-righteous Sunnis would be so provoked by peaceful demonstrators who clearly have not made done anything overtly sectarian.

        And by that same token of logic, should the Shia community then have the right to question the sectarian motives of those who are silent about the blatant discrimination perpetrated against the Shia of Bahrain merely because the oppressors happen to have belong to the same sect as those who are “questioning the motives” of the demonstrators?

        Also, I find the hypocrisy of the website to be unbearable in the sense that the site purports work against discrimination of Muslims within the US yet sanctions discrimination and oppression at a much larger scale in the Middle East to those who are not “upon the ahl-sunnah wal-jamaah.” (Which I don’t understand your point in bringing that up; so those who adhere to the Sunni school of thought “will naturally be inclined” to automatically suspect, without any credible basis, the “sectarian motivations” of those protesting for freedom merely because they are Shia? And if that is the case, what does that say about those who are “upon the ahl-sunnah wal-jamaah” ?)

        I hope you do not take offense to my post, as I’m merely pointing out the striking inconsistency among some (not all) within the Sunni community with regards to these uprisings.

        • http://muslimmatters.org/author/amad/ Amad

          Many commentators (non-Muslim included) have pointed out to the aspiration of Shia religious leaders in aligning with Iran in a new Shia-led Bahrain, or even in a similar theocracy. That’s enough to scare most sunnis. Whether this is a misguided perception or bitter truth is for people to decide, and for you to assume that whoever is on the former is hypocritical, then you don’t totally understand the situation. Talking about oppression, wonder why there is not a single sunni masjid in Tehran or why there is a shrine to the killer of Umar (RD), Abu Lulu, or why there was celebration of Aisha (RD)’s death by a prominent Kuwait shia scholar in UK.

          Before crying alligator tears about sunni behavior, you should understand that the distrust has a history and precedence.

          • Basil W.

            One, you shouldn’t be so quick to automatically assume that just because I’m Shia I support the Iranian regime, as I do not, and for you to jump to that conclusion shows the desperation of your argument.

            This would be like me assuming just because you’re Sunni you should be held accountable for every Sunni-led dictatorship that oppresses Shia (e.g., Bahrain, “Saudi” Arabia).

            Furthermore, please show me proof of ONE popular, credible Shia religious leader/politician who has called for Bahrain to be aligned with Iran? Since you seem to pose as a person so well versed in the intricacies and dynamics of Bahraini politics, this shouldn’t be a problem. It would do you well to educate yourself on Bahraini politics before rushing to make such ill-informed, racist statements, since it is painfully obvious that you no clue about politics in Bahrain and are speaking purely out of sectarian prejudice.

            In addition, don’t you think it scares Shia that their oppressive Sunni government is aligned with the anti-Shia “Kingdom” of “Saudi” Arabia, or are Sunni sensibilities the only ones to be taken into account? Not to mention the importation of sectarian Sunni non-Bahrainis into the Bahraini security forces to subjugate the local NATIVE Bahraini Shia population (yet, I suppose all this means nothing to you so long as Sunni sensibilities are not offended).

            Your post wreaks of racism and ethnosectarianism as you play the racist “Iran card” that so many sectarian Sunnis have played throughout history in their bid to deny Shias basic human rights. To think that you, one who poses as a supposedly good Muslim, would support the continuation of an unelected, oppressive monarchy in the 21st century, as well as your desire to deny democratic rights to the majority of Bahrainis purely because they are not of your sect, speaks volumes about your values.

          • http://www.muslimmatters.org/author/amad Amad

            To think that you, one who poses as a supposedly good Muslim, would support the continuation of an unelected, oppressive monarchy in the 21st century

            Actually I haven’t said anything to this regard… that is your assumption like many other assumptions you made. I don’t have an opinion on the specific matter of Bahrain’s revolution (different from support of the status quo) except that I recognize and appreciate that there is more than one opinion on it and neither is hypocritical for holding it.

            I didn’t need to do homework for you my brother neither did I say that I am an expert in the issue…. just google the issue and you’ll see many articles detailing the Iranian link (and from non-sunnis).

          • leena :)

            Okay so truth be told, I didn’t bother reading what all of u wrote but all I see is Sunni Shia . You both know ur wrong right?
            We are NOT Sunni and Shia we are MUSLIMS that serve Allah swt and follow the message of the prophet muhammed pbuh.
            This sunni and Shia thing is the most IGNORANT and DISGRACEFUL thing the ummah ever did. I pray to god, that the person who started it is punished worse than iblis.
            First of all Sunni’s arnt better than everyone. Second, the minute Shia’s stop critisizing ahl al bayt including Aisha ra and Abu bakr ra. When they stop accusing the man the prophet loved of MURDER and stop tarnishing the memory of Ali ra by giving him god-like tributes like he knows the future or even he makes no mistakes. Seriously? Ughhhh god I hate Shias and I hate Sunnis and Sufis nd everyother sect there is. YOU ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!! Allah doesn’t care about u!!!! U ARE ATTENTION SEEKING SLOTHS!! Who are just looking for an excuse to argue and fight!!! Why can’t u just stop vein preoccupied by STUPID things and Trying to improve YOUR religon and I can’t wait till the day of judgement where Allah holds you all accountable for being just STUPID so do all o us a favour nd jst shut the he’ll up or either die :)
            here is a brain teaser: why don’t Muslim reverts/converts ever claim to be either Sunni or Shia???

  • Basil W.

    And LOL @ your classification of Yassir Habib as a “prominent” Shia scholar! I suppose you’ve also made yourself out to be a credible expert on the relative influence of personalities within the Shia community.

    Had you taken the time to actually do some research (which you clearly haven’t, rather than extrapolate the opinions of one fringe cleric to that of the entire Shia community, you would have realized that this cleric has been openly ridiculed and condemned by the majority of the Shia community. Yet you are obviously clueless about this because it doesn’t fit into your narrow sectarian narratives.

    This is not to mention the many Sunni “religious” personalities who have ridiculed Shia beliefs, sanctioned the killing of Shia, among other “notable” actions, yet you don’t see me holding you accountable for their positions – and it’s something you won’t see me doing blindly to anyone just because they happen to be a Sunni.

    • http://www.muslimmatters.org/author/amad Amad

      Why ignore the other elephants in the room— no sunni masjid in Tehran (with 1 million sunnis)… official shrine to the murderer of our caliph.

      I agree that there are many wacky sunni personalities… and I don’t blame for shia distrust either. It goes both ways. And that’s exactly my point.

      • Basil W.

        And when did I ignore those points? Do you see me supporting those points? I made it clear that I am NOT a supporter of the Iranian regime?

        Yet you continue to assume (while accusing me of making assumptions) that just because I’m Shia (a secular one at that), then I must automatically support every action, event, catastrophe, etc… that offends the sensibilities of Sunnis. I don’t understand what your underlying point is in doing all this (that anyone who is a Shia automatically supportive of everything that offends Sunnis? I mean I really don’t know where you’re going with this…)

        You also falsely assume that just because I want freedom for the Bahraini people (as I do for ALL people, regardless of religion, ethnicity, etc…) that I must automatically support the marginalization of Sunnis in Iran. I don’t know how one jumps to that conclusion given that all I did was voice my support for democracy in Bahrain. Again, I don’t know where you’re going with this…

  • Basil W.

    Actually I haven’t said anything to this regard… that is your assumption like many other assumptions you made.

    I may have erred in assuming that you support the continuation of a monarchy, and if that is the case then I apologize. However, seeing as you clearly don’t support democracy in Bahrain, out of fear that the “wrong” people come to power, I don’t think I’m too far off the mark.

    Also, I find it a bit rich that you accuse me of making “many assumptions,” after you have managed within the span of 20 min.:

    - to imply that I’m a supporter of the Iranian regime (presumably me being a Shia was sufficient enough for you to make that assumption).

    - to hold me accountable for the insensible actions of a kooky, fringe cleric.

    - to assume that, if the “catastrophe” of democracy were to befall the minority of Sunnis in Bahrain who have ruled for centuries, then the Shia population would overwhelmingly vote align with the Iranian regime. This is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which in that it makes a sweeping uninformed generalization about an entire group of people and their political inclinations.

    Given these accusations/assumptions, I don’t think you should be preaching about others making several assumptions.

    And again, if I made the mistake of assuming anything about you that was false, then I apologize.

  • Basil W.

    Just for the record – lest my sectarian affiliation leads to more accusations against me – I do NOT support kooky clerics of any religion/sect. I want freedom, the right to worship freely, basic human rights, etc… for the Shias of Bahrain and “Saudi” Arabia just as much as I want it for the Sunnis of Iran, the Kurds of Syria, the Copts of Egypt, and for all historically disenfranchised groups. I don’t deny that the sensibilities of both Shias and Sunnis (and all human beings, for that matter) need to be respected, and as such, I am clearly against any inflammatory rhetoric/actions being perpetrated/propagated by one group against the other.

    Not that I have done/said/implied anything that would lead one to believe that I would support such things, but apparently being Shia and supporting the uprising in Bahrain (much like I do those in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen) is sufficient enough to warrant such accusation, according to some.

    • Al-Andalusi

      Assalamu Alekum

      A Kalimat Haqq should be said. I’m a Saudi who has kept an eye on this site for such a long time, but I felt I had to de-lurk here. Just to clarify, Im a Sunni from Jeddah, originally from Najd. I can honestly say that the Baharna Shia (from Alhasa, Qatif, and Bahrien proper) suffer a systemic process of discrimnation that is unparalled to anything metted out to our Sunni brothers in Iran. My blood freezes whenever I think of the government’s response to the Ba’qih incident in 2009. They only “released” people two days ago, including the Cleric Tawfiq Al-Amir, as a means of placating public anger in the eastern provinces. Funny, since Mr. Al-Amir was arrested primarily for speaking out against a Takfiri fatwa. Astagferullah. There are many doctrinal issues I dont agree with Shia on, but seriously, the treatment they have received in both Bahrien and Saudi is beyond atrocious. They are 70% of the population in Bahrien, and are the original inhabitants (Ishmaeli and later Twelver communities have been there since the 8th century!) yet they continue to be treated as second class citizens.
      The Sunnis have largely come in as conquerers – the Al-Khalifi actually had the title of Al-Fatihun (to the conquest of a non-Muslim territory) attached to their royal titles and hadlargely expelled Shia from the western parts of the island by the turn of the 19th century.

      Ya Akhi, after all this, and given the ongoing marginalization of the community, the Shias have always displayed their loyalty for Bahrien (even doctrinally they are seperated from Iran along Akbari-Usuli lines). They want freedom in their own country – and they are entitled to it. The status quo as it stands is a Zulm. We should not perpetuate existing biases for the sake of maintaing the hold of an affluent Shia(Ajam) -Sunni class who live off the backs of the people of the country.

      Ina lillahi wa ina ilayhi ra’jiun.

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  • Anonym

    In response to the poll: What’s your biggest fitna?

    One of the categories was “Opposite gender”. What about same gender?

    You’re forgetting that gay Muslims also struggle with their sexual desires.

    Wassalam,

    • http://muslimmatters.org/author/amad/ Amad

      Interesting one Anonym… I agree with you but that would be a very small percent, so we were looking at big pieces here.

      • Anonym

        Why do you say “very small percent”? There are a lot of gay Muslims. Unless, ofcourse you have concrete evidence suggesting otherwise…

        • leena :)

          There is a small percent because as you know the punishment for premaritual sex or zinah is stonin to death simmiliarly homosexuality’s punishment is death so THEREFORE they can’t vote since they’re dead!

  • http://muslimmatters.org/author/amad/ Amad

    we’ll be restarting the latest fitna poll to provide better data.

  • http://www.youtube.com/ummibraahim1 UmmIbraahim

    Assalamu Alaikum bro/sis,

    I think you need to rethink this question: ‘As a female, have you ever had a “Shaykhy” crush?’

    as it’s not a good question and not something that is relevant to the muslim ummah

    Wasalamu alaikum.

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