Be Great People – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

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.”

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani’s struggle against wahhabism

This is a very interesting video that I am glad I came across on youtube. Unfortunately, while learning my way around the Islamic community for the last 11 years, I have been faced with a lot of individuals who are “Anti-Sufi” and make it out to be a “sect” of Muslims that is out of the mainstream. Honestly, after 11 challenging years, I don’t ever want to hear another person talk bad of other Muslims. When will we be able to get along?

Imam Johari – 21st Century Imam

Suhaib Webb: Coming from America’s Bible Belt to the halls of Al-Azhar, this young imam wants to combine the best of both worlds in Islam

Source: Egypt Today 

William Webb would never have had to hide in the men’s room at a convention, waiting for a gaggle of girls to lose interest. But Imam Suhaib Webb is a different story. Such is the Muslim community’s fascination with this American-born Azhari student that one day he had to do just that.

“I’m married!” he says, almost at a loss for words. “This is a fitna [discord]”

Webb is hard to miss, and his charisma and vision are even harder to ignore. Whether ambling through a bookstore in Old Cairo or sitting on the floor of Al-Azhar directing visitors, Webb is clearly at home. But few Azhari students are tall, blond, blue-eyed and reared on American hip-hop in a rough part of America’s heartland.

More importantly, few students at Al-Azhar share Webb’s daunting mission. Part of the vanguard of a new generation of American Muslim leaders, he is trying to articulate an American Islam that reflects both its heritage of Eastern scholarship and the needs of its American believers. Easy? Not in the slightest.

Born in the USA

Now in his third year of study at Al-Azhar, Webb has a growing following among American and British Muslims. But he wasn’t always Imam Suhaib Webb. Once upon a time he was William Webb, born in 1972 to a Christian family in Oklahoma, where his grandfather was a preacher. “I had a lot of trouble accepting God as a human being or creation,” he recalls. “Even as a young child I would ask my mother questions. Suddenly, God is one of three instead of God just being God. So I became a little confused. How could the prophets before Jesus go to heaven if they couldn’t worship Jesus? If [the criteria for heaven was] worshipping and recognizing him as a deity and [as] the key to paradise?”

At 14, Webb went through a spiritual crisis. By then he had become a gang member. “Although I came from a middle-class family, I went to a rough high school,” he says. Deeply entrenched in the 1980s hip-hop community, Webb worked as a DJ.

Expressing Love for the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

This is a great initiative to promote love for the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and those who propogate the spread of this love. Check out the video below for a re-cap of their event in 2006.

Zaytuna Institute Distance Learning Program

I can’t really deny how absolutely happy I am that Zaytuna Institute has started a distance learning program! For so long I have been waiting for a reliable and trustworthy institution to begin a program such as this. Not to say that Zaytuna is the only trustworthy institution, but I feel spiritually comfortable with them and their teachers. I considered attending other programs, such as Sunnipath and Al Maghrib, but with Sunnipath the high cost always stopped me, and with Al Maghrib they never came to my city. So, can I get an AHAMDULLILAH!!

Check the details below:

Zaytuna Institute’s new Distance Learning program provides communities and students around the world affordable access to the sacred knowledge being taught and preserved at Zaytuna Institute through the use of the latest in cutting-edge multimedia and Internet technology.

Zaytuna’s new and improved Distance Learning program is centered around a unique system that gives registered students access to a new audio/video class session download each week, course-related handouts, and an interactive online student forum all from their “course portal.” This “download-based” format allows students the freedom to review course content at their own pace and on the device or player of their choice (computer, iPod, CD player, car stereo, multimedia-equipped cell phone, etc.).

Offered on a quarterly basis, Zaytuna’s Distance Learning courses present an exciting and flexible new option for seekers of knowledge to connect with Zaytuna’s scholars and access high-quality Islamic teaching at a price they can afford. Instruction starts soon, so get started today!

FALL 2007 COURSE LIST – Register Now!

ISNA – Great American Pilgrimage?

That time of year has dawn upon us again. Yes, as many of your know, it is that time of the year when Muslims from all over North America, and sometimes even from other parts of the globe flock to Chicago, Illinois to attend the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) National Convention. This annual festival has become a regular for myself, and tens of thousands of American Muslims like myself. Each year we drive, fly, or perhaps even hitch hike (joke everyone!) to make our way to the ISNA National convention in hopes of making tawaaf around the bazaar, listening to the awesome lectures from the likes of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Sirraj Wahhaj, to listen to the generally awesome entertainment, and to meet up others whom we have not seen since the previous years convention.

Ahh yes, only a few days away, and already the tension is building. What will Sheikh Hamza wow us with this year? What songs will Kareem Salama and Dawud Wharnsby perform off their forthcoming albums. Will Native Deen be there?! Will I get more than 3 hours of sleep a night?!

So many questions, and the answers are soon to come. I will be sure and try to take some pics while I am there, provided I don’t forget my digital camera.

For those that want to find out more about ISNA, click here

Illume Media Making Waves in the Muslim Community

Visit Illume Magazine on the web at www.illumemedia.org

What is Illume Magazine?

Illume Magazine is an independent media publication that aims to connect to the peoples of America and to the global electronic community in aneffort to present the beauty of Islam through web and print media.

Why Illume Magazine?

In recent years, Islam has seen an increase in attention from the mainstream media, but this attention generally presents a distorted image of Islam, which avoids addressing critical issues. The mainstream media is flooded with misinformation regarding Islam, and this is largely due to ignorance. However, the reality of the situation is that a large body of informed perspectives exists outside the mainstream. Illume Media seeks to act as an alternative media outlet for these perspectives.

Why the title, Illume?

Taking from the Prophetic Attribute, Siraajan Muneera, which means an Illuminating Lamp, Illume Magazine has been founded as an independent voice to disseminate both readily available material and original works through one medium as a means for enlightenment of the masses.

What is the philosophy behind Illume Magazine?

The organization serves to connect the hearts of the Ummah since unification is not possible without a connection. To that end, Illume Magazine looks to connect existing organizations in order to make their information available to a larger audience.

In doing so, Illume Magazine wishes to educate, invite, and enlighten humanity to the beauty of Islam and become Muslims in action regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, social status, etc. This is done by providing access to resources including, but not limited to, scholarly articles, discourses, commentaries on current affairs, notification and coverage of community events in various regions and articles on personal reflection. In keeping with the idea of reaching out to a broader audience, there are spotlights on traditional foods from different cultures, forums for art and poetry, literature and restaurant reviews. In attempts to create an interactive experience, readers can view and listen to video and audio of lectures and seek answers and advice from knowledgeable experts.

The New Swimsuit Issue

Source: Time Magazine

Move over, Tankini. Since the full-coverage swimsuit dubbed the Burqini (as in burqa plus bikini) hit the international market in January, devout Muslim women have been snapping them up. The polyester suits were designed to accord with Islamic laws that require women to dress modestly and to eliminate the risk of drowning when the yards of fabric used in traditional burqas get soaked. Now, however, non-Muslim beachgoers are getting into the full-covered swim. Whether women are worried about health, weight or the tolls of age, the Burqini offers a comfortable alternative to a skimpy two-piece or clingy maillot.

The demure suits, pioneered by two Muslim women on opposite sides of the globe, are like lightweight, loose, hooded wet suits and hide everything but the face, hands and feet. Australian retailer Aheda Zanetti, 38, says she was inspired to design her Burqini after watching young Muslim girls struggle to play netball in bulky layers. Her competitor, California microbiologist Shereen Sabet, 36, came up with her full-coverage Splashgear suits after searching in vain for Islam-appropriate scuba gear. The UV-resistant, stretchy swimsuits start at $90 and have found upwards of 6,000 buyers–most of them online–in locations as varied as Malaysia, South Africa, Mexico, Ireland and the U.S. “I’m a very small business with a product the whole world wants,” says Zanetti.

Conservative Christians, cancer patients, burn victims and senior citizens, among others, have shown surprising interest. Joanne Martinez, 37, of San Clemente, Calif., bought a Hawaiian-print ensemble to stave off chills during late-night dips. Her mother Norma Suarez, 69, got a suit because her medications make her skin sun-sensitive. “We’re both hooked,” says Martinez. Meanwhile, Kathleen Petroff, 59, of Helendale, Calif., bought her Splashgear suit for a snorkeling trip, after weight gain from multiple-sclerosis treatment made her old suit unappealing. If not for Sabet’s design, she says, “I would have missed swimming with the dolphins.”

Anne Cole, the designer whose 1997 invention of the tankini was a landmark for conservative swimwear, lauds the reasoning behind the modest suits. “A woman should, above all, find a suit she can feel comfortable and be herself in,” she says. But the new swimsuits have drawn criticism from both East and West. “This is like playing a game with Allah,” asserted a poster on the website ShiaChat, complaining that the stretchy fabric reveals curves. Zanetti’s design has also brought out anti-Muslim sentiment since she’s become a high-profile member of the Islamic community. She has been called a terrorist online; she says she has even received a death threat.

Some feminists charge that burqas in any form are offensive to women. “Clearly you’re not considered a full human being if you’re mandated to cover yourself head to toe in this tent,” says Taina Bien-Aimé, executive director of Equality Now, the international women’s-rights watchdog. Sabet responds that Muslim men too have a dress code: the Koran forbids them to wear saffron or silk or expose skin from navel to knee. But Imam Mohamed Magid, who heads a moderate mosque in Sterling, Va., calls debate over Islamic clothing misdirected. “I wish there was more talk about women as leaders rather than talk about whether nail polish is acceptable in Islam,” he says. “We need to move forward.”

Still, in this bare-it-all age of the string bikini, when young girls take wardrobe cues from Paris Hilton and body-image pressure is intense, the Burqini swimsuit is making a statement. And that’s the point, the designers say: the suits allow women, Muslim or not, to choose comfort over conformity. “I know it sounds like an oxymoron,” says Sabet. “But this is really about freedom.”