Khutba on ISIS and the Khawarij By Imam Habib Bewley

22.08.2014

Originally posted on www.jumuamosquect.com

Audio download

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي حفِظ دينَه بالخلفاء والأمراء والسلاطين، وجعل مبايعتَهم وطاعتَهم الطريق إلى وحدة الأمة والنصر المبين، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدٌى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع 

الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

We have all been shocked and horrified by the pictures and reports beamed back to us from Gaza of the burnt and mutilated bodies of our fellow Muslim men, women and children, trapped with no place to run or hide and killed in their own homes by lethal rockets and bombs. The images are heartbreaking and how could they not be, for they are our brothers and sisters in the deen. The Prophet said, 

مثل المؤمنين في تراحمهم وتوادهم وتعاطفهم مثل الجسد إذا اشتكى منه عضو تداعى له سائر جسده بالسهر والحمى

“The believers are like a body in their mercy, love and affection for one other - when any one limb aches, the rest of the body reacts to that with sleeplessness and fever.” 

They are a part of us, a part of our umma, and their suffering causes us great distress. So we ask Allah to relieve their suffering, and give them a way out and protect them from their enemies. And bring about the best possible outcome for their situation, one which is pleasing to Him and strengthens them and the Muslim Umma.

This situation that the Palestinian people are facing has been going on for months, indeed for years, but we must be careful to not let it distract us from what else is going on. For there is another situation that dwarfs it in significance and scope, one which threatens the stability and well-being of the entire region and one which is harder for us to come to terms with given that all of the sides involved claim to be Muslim. This other situation, this other conflict, has led to the deaths of not just thousands of Muslims, but hundreds of thousands, many of whom are again women and children. The epicentre of this conflict is Syria, but it has since spread into Iraq. On the one side, you have Bashar al-Assad and the Shi’i leadership of Iraq, and on the other, the group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS.

Solar eclipse proves the inaccuracy of the Saudi Ummul Qura calendar Report by Qamar Uddin

On Sunday 3rd November 2013 there was a total solar eclipse in Africa and a partial one in the Middle East, where many thousands of people witnessed the birth of the moon by the human eye, without relying on astronomical calculations. It is well understood by the astronomy experts that the visibility of the moon is not possible in the same evening when there is a solar eclipse, as the moon is still in the hidden phase, called Mahaq in Arabic. A solar eclipse is visible when the sun, moon and the earth comes in one plane during daylight hours, as shown in the diagram below.

It is also well-known in Islamic history that there was a solar eclipse in Madinah at the time of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) in 10 AH when...[Click here to continue reading]

Talk by Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley Sunday 19th Jan 2014

New courses starting at MFAS

MFAS Autumnal Term Opening Weekend. 2 Free Muslim Faculty lectures. 2-5pm. The Curve Auditorium, The Forum, Millennium Plain. Norwich UK

▶ For all lecture and course info, go to:
• http://themuslimfaculty.org/welcome

Islamic Sufism in the West by Dr Aziz El-Kobaiti Idrisi

Please find the video by clicking on the following link http://themuslimfaculty.org/islamic-sufism-west

Dr. Idrissi tells the story of the first arrivals of Sufism in the West and the various strands, both orthodox and heterodox, that developed there. He focuses particularly on the Shadhili Darqawi order and then takes as an example, the Habibiyya order that under the tutelage of Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi (Ian Dallas), and became known for a period as the Murabitun. The lecture is based on the book of the same name published by Diwan Press.

Shaykh Ali: Islam, Iman and Ihsan THIS SUNDAY

Leeds New Muslims invites you to:

Islam, Iman, Ihsan

Date: Sunday, 19th May, 4pm-6pm

Venue: Cardigan Centre, Cardigan Road, Leeds

Leeds New Muslims would like to invite you to our next event, which is a talk by Shaykh Ali Laraki on the three fundamental aspects of the Deen: Islam (Submission), Iman (Belief)  and Ihsan (Excellence).

Shaykh Ali is the founder and principal teacher of the Meem Institute, an organisation which provides online courses in various aspects of Islamic Studies. A brief biography is below.

New Course: The Ajurrumiyya by Shaykh Ali Laraki

The Meem Institute is pleased to inform you of its intention to host the second part of its online course “Commentary on the Ajurrumiyya”.

The course will deal with MARFŪ‘ĀT AL-ASMĀ’ (nouns in nominative case)

This will include:

1.    The Fā‘il (doer),

2.    The Maf‘ūl (direct object) whose Fā‘il is not named or mentioned

3.    The Mubtada’ (subject)

4.    Its Khabar (predicate)

5.    The Ism (noun) of Kāna and its sisters

6.    The Khabar (predicate) of Inna and its sisters

7.    The Tābi‘ (follower or modifier) of the Marfū‘, consisting of four;

         (1) Na‘t (qualifying adjective or descriptive noun)

(2) ‘Aṭf (conjunction)

(3) Taukīd (corroborative)

(4) Badal (substitute).

Duration: 8 weeks.

In order to publish this course, we need a minimum of five students enrolled.

Please let us know if you are interested in enrolling on this course as we hope to begin the course as soon as possible.

www.meeminstitute.com/

mailto: info@meeminstitute.com

We would also appreciate if you could inform all those you believe may be interested, so more people can benefit from it.

Should you need more details, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

New Course by Shaykh Ali Laraki. Not to be missed!

The Meem Institute is pleased to announce its new online course entitled:

Introduction to the Fiqh of the Prayer

According to the School of Imam Malik

Part II

This is an 8 week (one hour a week) course, starting on the 25th of March 2013 taught by Shaykh Ali Laraki al-Husaini, author of the the book: The Practical Guidebook of Essential Islamic Sciences: A Commentary on IBN Ashir's Al-Murshid Al-Mu'in, which is available [here]

The topics covered will be:

·         Types of prayer

·         Care and burial of the dead.

·         Funeral prayer

·         Travel prayer

·         Fear prayer

·         Eid prayer

·         Rectification of prayer

·         Friday prayer

·         Group prayer


For more information about the course please go to www.meeminstitute.com/online-courses-english/

Dallas College is Recruiting New Students for 2013

www.dallascollegect.com

Introduction To The Science Of Tasawwuf by Shaykh Ali Laraki

Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley on the Four Madhhabs

An invaluable discourse on the Four Legal Schools of Thought by Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley.
The Shaykh gives a very concise overview and reflects on the state of the madhhabs in the modern context.

The Four Madhhabs of Islam

Available at
diwanpress.com

This collection tackles the issue of the four madhhabs of Islam in a ground-breaking and thought-provoking way. 

“The Four Madhhabs of Islam and Their Relationship with the Present Time”, by Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley presents a historical understanding of the origins of the madhhabs and their development which allows us to grasp our present situation in a new and liberating way. 

Aisha Bewley focuses upon the often misunderstood term, the ‘amal, or practice, of the People of Madinah. 

In his paper, “The Importance of Malik and the Maliki Madhhab Today”, Dr. Yasin Dutton considers the importance of Imam Malik’s magisterial work the Muwatta’, in preserving our historically most valid – because closest to the source – transmission of sunna and hadith. 

In the fourth contribution, Shaykh Abdalhaqq shows how the deen reached him (and the other authors) in transmitted practice from the first community. Together, they show that just as a way based exclusively on scholarship and study of texts can be paralysing and inhibiting, and to it can be attributed much of the helplessness of contemporary Muslims, recovery of transmitted practice backed by scholarship is a dynamic and liberating way that can lead to a new flowering of the deen in every age.

Click here for more details and to purchase

The Madrasa Muhammad Wazzani was founded in 2000 by the late Moroccan scholar Mawlana Muhammad Wazzani as-Sayyid of Melilla, and the Mallorcan homeopath and pharmacist Ahmad Salva. During the normal course of daily teaching at the Madrasa the study programme is based on the traditional model of oral transmission, which has been functioning in all of North and Central Africa for many centuries. The day is organized around the five prayers. The students read the Qur’an off a wooden board called a ‘Lawh’, learning passages dictated to each student separately by the Master. Once a passage of Qur’an has been memorised and read by heart to the Master, the student may erase the board and go on to write the next passage.

Each morning is dedicated to memorisation while the afternoons are spent revising the Qur’an and studying Arabic, Fiqh. More advanced students may receive further instruction in the more specialised sciences of the Qur’an like Asbab-an-Nuzul, Tafsir, Tajweed, and so on.

Inquiries about studies at the Madrasa may equally be made via the e-mail address:admin@madrasamuhammadwazzni.com

Prepare Yourself for Ramadan - Introduction to the Virtues and the Fiqh of Ramadan

Instructor: Shaykh Ali Laraki al-Husaini
Language of Instruction: English

Date(s): 7th July, 2012 – 11th August, 2012 (seven week course)

Start time: 8:00pm British Summer Time. Please note the time will change to 6pm during Ramadan.

Price: Early registration up until 30th June is £40 / €50 / $63 

Price after deadline:  £50 / €63 / $78.

Please note: The currency conversions shown here are a guide, prices may differ slightly depending on the rates used by PayPal.

http://www.meeminstitute.com/online-courses-english/

A selection from Al-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad regarding love of the Prophet

TAKEN FROM AISHA BEWLEY'S WEBSITE - bewley.virtualave.net











Section 4: The signs of love of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace

Know that someone who loves a person prefers them and prefers what they like. Otherwise, he is a pretender, insincere in his love.

Someone who has true love of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, will manifest the following signs.

1) The first sign is that he will emulate him, apply his Sunna, follow his words and deeds, obey his commands and avoid his prohibitions and take on his adab in ease and hardship, joy and despair. Allah testifies to that, "Say: if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you." (3:31)

2) He will prefer what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has laid down as law and encouraged, over his own passions and appetites. Allah said, "Those who were already settled in the abode, and in belief, before they came, love those who have emigrated to them and do not find in their breasts any need for what they have been given and prefer them to themselves even if they themselves are in want." (59:9)

3) His anger against people will only be for the sake of the pleasure of Allah. Anas ibn Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah said to me, 'My son, if you can be without any grudge in your heart against anyone in the morning and evening, be like that.' Then he added, 'My son, that is part of my Sunna. Whoever gives life to my sunna has loved me and whoever loves me is with me in the Garden.'" (at-Tirmidhi)

Anyone who possesses this particular quality has perfect love for Allah and His Messenger. Anyone slightly lacking in it is imperfect in his love, while not entirely devoid of it. The proof of this is in what the Prophet said about the man who was given the punishment for drinking. A man there cursed him and the Prophet said, "Do not curse him. He loves Allah and His Messenger." (al-Bayhaqi)

4) Another of the signs of love for the Prophet is to mention him often. Whoever loves something mentions it a lot.

5) Another is great yearning to meet him. Every lover yearns for their beloved.

When the Ash'arite clan came to Madina, they chanted, "Tomorrow we will meet those we love, Muhammad and his Companions!"

6) One of its signs is that as well as mentioning him often, someone who loves him will exalt and respect him when he mentions him and display humility and abasement when he hears his name. Ishaq at-Tujibi said, "Whenever the Companions of the Prophet heard his name after he died, they were humble, their skins trembled and they wept. It was the same with many of the Followers. Some of them act like that out of love and yearning for him, others out of respect and esteem."

7) Another sign is love for those who love the Prophet and the people of his house and his Companions, both of the Muhajirun and Ansar, for his sake. Such a person will also be hostile to those who hate them and curse them. Whoever loves anyone, loves those he loves.

The Prophet said about al-Hasan and al-Husayn, "O Allah, I love them, so love them." In al-Hasan's variant, "O Allah, I love him, so love the one who loves him." He also said, "Whoever loves them loves me. Whoever loves me loves Allah. Whoever hates them hates me. Whoever hates me hates Allah." (al-Bukhari)
He said, "Allah! Allah! My Companions! Do not make them targets after me! Whoever loves them loves them by loving me. Whoever hates them hates them by hating me. Whoever does something hurtful to them does something hurtful to me. Whoever does something hurtful to me does something hurtful to Allah. Whoever does something hurtful to Allah is about to be seized." (at-Tirmidhi)

He said about Fatima, "She is a part of me. Whoever hates her hates me." (al-Bukhari)

He said to 'A'isha about Usama ibn Zayd, "Love him for I love him." (at-Tirmidhi)

He said, "The sign of true faith is love for the Ansar and the sign of hypocrisy is hatred for them." (al-Bukhari and Muslim)

In a hadith related by Ibn 'Umar we find, "Whoever loves the Arabs, loves them because he loves me. Whoever hates them hates them because he hates me." In reality, whoever loves someone loves everything he loves. This was certainly the case with the Salaf, even regarding permitted things and the appetites of the self.

Anas once saw the Prophet reaching for the pumpkin in the plate. He said, "I have loved pumpkin from that day."

Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali, 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Ja'far came to Salma [a servant of the Prophet] and asked her to prepare some food for them which the Messenger of Allah liked. Ibn 'Umar began to wear tanned sandals dyed yellow when he saw the Prophet wearing ones like that.

8) Another sign is hatred for anyone who hates Allah and His Messenger, having enmity towards all who have enmity towards him, avoidance of all those who oppose his Sunna and introduce innovations into his Deen, and finding every matter contrary to his Shari'a burdensome. Allah says, "You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day who having love for anyone who opposes Allah and His Messenger." (58:22)
His Companions killed their loved ones and fought their fathers and sons to gain the pleasure of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy said to him, "If you had wanted, I would have brought you his head (his father's)."

9) Another sign of it is love for the Qur'an which the Prophet brought, by which he guided and was guided, and whose character he took on so that 'A'isha said, "His character was the Qur'an." Part of love for the Qur'an is its recitation and acting by it and understanding it, and loving his sunna and keeping within its limits.

Sahl ibn 'Abdullah said, "The sign of the love of Allah is love of the Qur'an. The sign of love of the Qur'an is love of the Prophet. The sign of love of the Prophet is love of the Sunna. The sign of love of the Sunna is love of the Next World. The sign of love of the Next World is hatred for this world. The sign of hatred for this world is that you do not store up any of it except for provision and what you need to arrive safely in the Next World."

Ibn Mas'ud said, "No one needs to ask himself about anything except the Qur'an. If he loves the Qur'an, he loves Allah and His Messenger."

10) One of the signs of love for the Prophet is having compassion for his community, giving them good counsel, striving for their best interests and removing what is harmful from them just as the Prophet was "compassionate, merciful to the believers." (9:128)

11) One of the signs of perfect love is that the one who aspires to it does without in this world and prefers poverty.

The Prophet said to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, "Poverty for those among you who love me comes quicker than a flood from the top of the mountain to the bottom." (at-Tirmidhi)

In a hadith from 'Abdullah b. Mughaffal, a man said to the Prophet, "O Messenger of Allah, I love you." He said, "Take care what you say!" He said, "By Allah, I love you" three times. He said, "If you love me, then prepare for poverty quickly." There is a similar hadith from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.

Introduction to the Sunni 'Aqida

According to the Ash'ari School

by Shaykh Ali Laraki

Online course. For more information click here:

Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki - Q&A With New Muslims (VIDEO) (Also Useful for the Not-So-New Muslims!)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

In this video Mufti Abu Layth addresses the following topics during a Q&A session:

Why/how did the other 'madhabs'/schools of thought die out?

'Qur'an & Sunnah' only approach?

Good bid'a

New discoveries

Differences in hadith narrations

Praying for deceased non muslims

Going to ulama/scholars

'Urf'/custom in shari'a

How many different hadith are there?

Learning through hadith

Are 'madhabs' sects?

Taqleed (Some time called 'blind following')

'Mursal' hadith

Using the title 'mufti' 

Understanding the four Madhabs

 by Abdul Hakim Maurad (T J Winters)









The ummah's greatest achievement over the past millennium has undoubtedly been its internal intellectual cohesion. From the fifth century of the Hijra almost to the present day, and despite the outward drama of the clash of dynasties, the Sunni Muslims have maintained an almost unfailing attitude of religious respect and brotherhood among themselves. It is a striking fact that virtually no religious wars, riots or persecutions divided them during this extended period, so difficult in other ways.


The history of religious movements suggests that this is an unusual outcome. The normal sociological view, as expounded by Max Weber and his disciples, is that religions enjoy an initial period of unity, and then descend into an increasingly bitter factionalism led by rival hierarchies. Christianity has furnished the most obvious example of this; but one could add many others, including secular faiths such as Marxism. On the face of it, Islam's ability to avoid this fate is astonishing, and demands careful analysis.

There is, of course, a straightforwardly religious explanation...
[Click here for full article]

Foundations of the Spiritual Path By Sidi Ahmad Zarruq

Translated by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

The noble scholar, the unique of his age, the regulator of the scholars and the saints, Sidi Ahmad Zarruq al-Barnusi al-Fasi, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote the following:








If  anyone is asked about the foundations of his path, he should reply:

'The foundations of our path are five:

Taqwa – mindfulness of Allah, privately and publicly

Adherence to the Sunna  in word and deed

Indifference to whether others accept or reject one

Contentment with Allah in times of both hardship and ease

Turning to Allah in prosperity and adversity.'

The realization of mindfulness of Allah is through scrupulousness and uprightness. The realization of adherence to the Sunnah is through caution and excellent character. The realization of indifference to others’ acceptance or rejection is through patience and trust in Allah. The realization of contentment is through acceptance of what one is given and turning over the management of one’s affairs to Allah. The realization of turning back to Allah is through praise and gratitude in times of prosperity and taking refuge in Him in times of affliction.

The foundations of the preceding five are in the following five:

Exalted aspirations

Maintaining Allah’s reverence

Expending oneself in excellent service of others

Fulfilling one’s resolves

Magnifying one’s blessings.

He whose aspirations are exalted is...

[more here]

Is There No Arafat Except the One in Arafat? by Abdullah bin Hamid Ali

In addition to the ongoing disagreements over when Ramadan begins and ends, there is a dispute every year over whether or not the correct day of Arafat is the one being observed by those making the pilgrimage to Mecca. A considerable number of Muslims assume that Islam demands that every Muslim community in the world adjust their local calendars to conform to the Saudi Arabian Islamic calendar...more here.