Be Great People – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Ask Baba Ali Episode 3

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Rumors spread faster than wildfire…

So, I decided after Fajr prayer this morning to sleep in a bit because I was feeling a bit groggy from some sort of ‘bug’ I caught the day before, and because I knew that I needed my rest to go to my friends birthday party tonight.

So… while I was enjoying my peaceful, relaxing sleep, I got a phone call from a friend of mine…

“Is it true that  ___________________________”

I left the blank intentionally, as I don’t want to reveal the rumor actually being spread. However, the question itself threw me off a bit, because regardless of whether there was any truth to the rumor or not, I don’t think it to be anyone’s business what is going on in my personal life until and unless I feel comfortable to let it be revealed.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends, and I am not the type of person to keep to myself and not share intimate thoughts with my friends. However, if there were really any kind of good news I wanted to share with my friends I would like to hope they would think I would do it as soon as I could.

Anyhow, just a bit of my ranting. Rumors spread fast, and that scares me… Sometimes people get hurt by rumors, sometimes rumors are nothing to worry much about.

Personally, I hope that I never get caught up in spreading false claims, rumors, etc. about any human being as long as I live. I understand we are all human, and things will happen as they were meant to. However, I hope inshAllah, that I am never an individual who leads to someones sadness as a result of spreading rumors.

Time for some lunch =)!

* AM *

Why I write?

Sometimes I think to myself… why do I write?

Generally, I never write with the expectation that someone else will read what I write. Hence, perhaps that is what allows me to be more open and honest with what I write in a seemingly public blog.

Nevertheless, there are many motivators behind my words captured on virtual paper.  Thoughts, such as improving my writing skills, expressing my feelings in a healthy manner, etc. do come to mind. However, I feel that this is something more behind it all….

Why do I write?!

I write with the hope to stay sane… I write in hopes that it will wash away the pain…

I write to make my mind clear… I write because sometimes certain things are better read than heard through the ear…

I write because I find no better manner of expression… I write as a way to show affection…

I write because it is like being in love…. When I write, my mind floats in the clouds above….

I write with the hopes of making a change… I write in hope of hiding my shame….

I write for those who have no voice… I write because God has taught us we have a choice…

When I write I feel no better peace…. When I write my mind is finally put at ease….

Many thanks to those who read my blog.

* AM *

Obama becomes front runner…

Well… Well… what do we have here….

An African American beating out a white woman in a race to become democratic candidate for presidency. Oh wait! Was I not supposed to mention race…. Of course! What was I thinking?! We live in the United States of America, where ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. Therefore race should not matter… right?!

Ok… fine… you want me to buy the idea that race doesn’t matter…. Then what about gender?! Clearly gender must matter in this presidential race?!

So, the question is, who would Americans rather have as a president? A black man, a white woman, or another G.W.B….. I mean John McCain…

I am rooting for Obama! I think the very thing that the United States of America needs is an African American president. No offense to Hilary… but… hey, you are white!

Don’t get me wrong, my mother is white, and technically, my skin color is white as well. But ethnically, I have Iranian blood and American blood within me, therefore I am not a pure bred white American good ole’ boy as some would say. Makes me wonder…. could I one day be President of the United States?!

Nah…. I don’t think I could handle the pressure…. But, nevertheless…. Barack Obama seems to be the kind of President we need to bring America back to its glory days.

A Chorus of Millions – Yes We Can (Barack Obama)

Enough is enough, and it is time for a chance. Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

Yes We Can – Barack Obama Music Video

Yes We Can in 2008! For once, I have hope that America can elect a President that will really care about this nation. I sincerely hope that Allah makes this come true, and that Allah makes Barack Obama the person who will lead America out of its darkness that it has been thrust into, and into the light of acceptance, understanding, tolerance, prosperity, and leadership. As an American, I would be proud to call Mr. Barack Obama my President.

Ask Baba Ali Episode 1

What can I say? I love this!! May Allah bless Baba Ali to continue his awesome work.

When is a Fatwa really a Fatwa?

First off, what is a Fatwa anyways?! This word, which Western media loves to throw around (think Khomeni’s Fatwa against Salman Rushdie, etc.) is often times used with a negative connotation. But, can Fatwa’s be positive? Do they have to always involve the possible death of another individual. Let’s take a look at this and more issues in this and subsequent posts.

From Islam-online.net we get the following:

In his book, Al-Fatwa Bayna al-indibat Wa-at-tasayyub, the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, states the following:“Lexically, the Arabic word fatwa means to give a satisfactory answer regarding a certain issue.”

In the technical language of Shari`ah, the word fatwa clarifies the Islamic ruling in an answer given to question or a set of questions usually related to an Islamic issue. It does not make any difference whether the questioner is a person or a group of persons.

From this, we can certainly agree that a fatwa can pertain to any type of religious ruling, whether it be something as simple as a question regarding the type of clothing one can wear in the ritual prayers, or something as complex as what kinds of ingredients one can, and cannot consume in pre-processed foods in non-Muslim lands.

Many Muslims the world over, look to Fatawa’s for religous rulings and therefore guidance on issues which they face in their daily lives. A Muslim living in Egypt, for example, may require a fatwa from a Muslim scholar on the rulings in dealing with tourists to his country, since Egypt is a common tourist atraction amongst Arab countries for Westerners. An example of what this Egyptian man might ask a scholar would be if he was allowed to charge a higher price for tourists for the same service that would be given to a local (a common practice in my ethnically native country of Iran). A Muslim scholar residing in Egypt (we will get to the importance of this point of “residing in the country the Fatwa is given later) would issue his ruling on the issue, or in other words a Fatwa.

I would like to stop at this point, and show to my non-Muslim readers, that the word Fatwa was just used in a way that in no form was negative. As we have previously mentioned, a Fatwa is a simple religious ruling on an issue relating to Islam. Fatwa’s cover a range of issues, also as previously mentioned, and if one were to look at a collection of Fatwa’s from Muslim scholars, one would see that they would cover just about every aspect of life an individual would experience. That is the very nature of religious rulings.

I would like to end this entry, with another qoute from Islam-online.net. In subsequent posts, I will continue the discussions of Fatwa’s, and try to clarify some misconceptions, and misunderstandings amongst Muslims as well as those of other faiths.

It stands to reason that fatwa is not an easy task, but rather an arduous one. This is because the one who commits himself to issuing fatwas acts on behalf of Allah’s Messengers and Prophets. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Scholars are the heirs of Prophets, and Prophets neither left behind dinars nor dirhams (Arab coins); rather they left knowledge. He who acquires knowledge has really gained something of great value.”