Unfair social media "community standards"

 Apparently, FB wouldn't let me share this post as they claim that it "violates community standards".

I'm still quite baffled as to exactly which rule this supposedly breaks.

Keeping the post on here because it's still excellent and profound advice and reminders benefit the believers:

Trojan horses entering Pakistan

 Trojan horses entering Pakistan:

A few years ago, some liberals posted online videos about the plight of what they call the "transgender community" in Pakistan (a community who are a mixture of intersex eunuchs/hejra and "transgender" people who are mostly biologically male but identify and behave like females). The video resonated with much of Pakistani society, because it was true that the hejra community in particular did face a lot of discrimination and mistreatment in society, so proposing that they should be given more rights makes sense and wont seem objectionable to most- but there's more to this story than meets the eye.

The real purpose of those videos by liberals was not to solely improve the situation of the hejra community- it was to use a relatable topic to bring public opinion on to their side and then, under the guise of "rights for transgenders", use it as a trojan horse to shoehorn in new laws that include other things such as greater acceptance of homosexuality and the wider LGBTQ+ community in general, knowing full well that LGBTQ+ are not accepted in mainstream Pakistani society outside a few liberal elite and aggressively secular circles.

Why am I mentioning this now? Because the same thing seems to be happening again in a different context after the lynching of a Sri Lankan man in Sialkot.

Whilst early news reports are suggesting that he was an innocent man who was falsely accused of blasphemy, unfairly targeted and savagely beaten to death by a mob- large swathes of Pakistanis would quite rightly object to such a heinous crime and call for the perpetrators to be punished. Even the radical controversial group TLP appear to have distanced themselves from this incident. So if media reports are anything to go by, public opinion is largely in support of the victim and in support of punishing the culprits involved- but there's more to this story than meets the eye.

Is the real purpose of such news reports simply to seek justice through the courts to punish the perpetrators? Or is the real purpose an attempt to sway public opinion against Pakistan's blasphemy laws and in favour of increasing secularisation in schools as well as further crackdowns on religous institutions and organisations? Circling secular vultures such as Hasan Nisar would certainly hope for the latter.

As I've mentioned elsewhere: Islamic upbringing and the proper Islamic education would have prevented persecution and injustice towards religious minorities in Pakistan, such as the saying of the Prophet (saw) "he who hurts a dhimmi (non Muslim citizen living under Islamic rule), hurts me". This is why when you look at the lives of the Prophet (saw) and the rightly guided Khulafaa (ra), you don't see these sorts of atrocities and even if there was a rare case of a non Muslim saying disparaging things regarding Islam: in many cases, people were forgiven by the Prophet (saw) and other cases were addressed through the courts and state apparatus to ensure people got a fair hearing and vigilantism wasn't a thing. So whilst we'll hear a lot of hysteria implying that overzealous implementation of Islam is at fault for this act of cruelty- in many ways, the opposite is true and it's the lack of Islamic knowledge and the lack of implementation of Islam in Pakistan (especially in a broader political context) that contributed to this outcome.

The point here is not to suggest that the hejra community shouldn't have rights, or that the mob killing in Sialkot was justified- far from it. The point is that jaise haathi ke daanth khanay ke aur dikhane ke aur (according to the well known Urdu phrase "the elephant has one set of 'teeth' for eating and a different set of 'teeth' for show"), likewise a similar point can be made about news reports "khabaren dikhaate kuch aur, khabar ke peeche ka maqsad kuch aur" (news reports show one thing but the agenda behind it is something else).

Meaning of Surah Asr

 Surah Asr:

By Al-’Asr (the time). Verily, man is [deep] in loss, except for those who believe and do good deeds, urge one another to the truth and urge one another to patience.” (Quran 103)

This surah opens with admonition to humankind. Allah takes an oath by “time” and declares that humankind is in a state of loss. Every single human being, man or woman, is in a state of loss except those who strive and do four things; believe, do righteous deeds, and recommend one another to truth, and to sabr.

The meaning of Asr:

The simple translation for the word asr would be time. However asr has a much deeper meaning than another Arabic word meaning time, dahr. Dahr means time with no limits placed upon it, asr on the other hand means time that is limited; time that will come to an end. At a linguistic level one of the meanings of asr is something that is pressed or squeezed. Allah is swearing an oath by time, a time that is limited, a time that will end and a time that must be squeezed or pressed so that we, humankind, get as much from our limited time as possible.

Allah is also asking us to reflect on the passage of time. Another meaning that is given to the word asr is the declining day, the time of the Asr prayer, when the day is winding down coming to an end. Allah is telling us that our time is short and limited and if we do not make the most of it we are surely the losers, verily, Allah says, we are in loss.

The meaning of loss

The Arabic word for loss is khusr and it is the opposite of profit thus also carrying the meaning of bankruptcy. In this context it could mean that humankind will lose their main capital for the Hereafter if instead of using this life to gain by faith and deeds they bargain it away with disbelief and sin.

We are in danger of losing something very special, and that is a blissful life in the Hereafter. However before that great loss we will lose our closeness to Allah and thus our peace and tranquility in this life. A loss of contentment can sometimes lead humankind to act treacherously, and to run headlong into trouble and strife. But Allah is constantly warning us and here He is once more saying, wait, think and save yourself. Save yourself by aiming to have four character traits:

1. To believe. The first step of salvation is through upholding the correct belief and adhering to it with conviction and certainty.

2. To do righteous deeds. The way in which we gain this certainty is by doing the actions that are pleasing to Allah; we demonstrate our belief through our actions or righteous deeds. Our deeds must be performed in accordance to what is in the Quran and the authentic Sunnah. They should not be according to our whims and desires. The true sign of success is to obey Allah’s commandments and to resist the desire to sin.

3. To encourage, recommend or connect to truth. In Arabic haqq. Allah is telling us to remind each other and encourage each other to be faithful to the truth, and to let it stand out clearly by striving for justice.

4. To recommend one another to sabr is the fourth trait and establishing a commitment to haqq would not be possible without sabr. Being steadfast in following the commandments of Allah requires patience, staying away from sins requires patience, and not despairing in times of calamities requires patience. Ibnul Qayyim explained that having sabr meant having the ability to stop ourselves from despairing, to refrain from complaining, and to control ourselves in times of sadness and worry.

This surah advises those who believe to act collectively to strengthen their position in the Hereafter. It implies asking and inviting people to do righteous deeds and stopping them from falling into sin and disbelief.

The revelation of this surah occurred during difficult times. The early Muslims had to contend with the oppression and surah Al-Asr gave them strength and confidence in the face of their trials and tribulations. It is perhaps for this reason that it was very dear to the sahabah and still is to those who try to lead righteous life

(Copy pasted from Mudassar Haan's timeline)

Muslim for the sake of...?

 

A Muslim for the Sake of the Disbelievers

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

By: Shaykh "Abu Nour"

(Copy pasted from a forum post)

I recently received this email from a brother.  Question:

"Aassalamualaikum sheikh. i loved your works, enjoyed and learned from them. i do desire to become one of the mujahideen but not as you describe. i desire to become a mujahid in da’wah and learning and believe this is the right path. I heard and read some of your views on what the muslims should do and belive them not to be true. i think you should review your works and when you find the true path, apologize about your previous works. jihad cant be the right path because this is a religion of peace and if we go around killing everyone, it would be wrong for us to call this religion a religion of peace. what the muslims should do is evacuate palistine and afghanistan and continue with the da’wah and the rest is with ALLAH inshalah."

Answer:

Just like there is a Muslim for the sake of Allah, there is a new phenomenon of a Muslim for the sake of the disbelievers. And just like the Muslim for the sake of Allah does everything thinking what will Allah will think of me, the Muslim for the sake of the disbelievers does everything thinking what the disbelievers would think of him. So when a Muslim speaks out he does so to please Allah and when our other Muslim does not speak out he does so in order to please the disbelievers. When a Muslim fights he does so for the sake of Allah and when this other Muslim does not fight -even though he has every reason to do so- he does that in order not to displease the disbelievers. Obviously this is not expressed as such but is packaged in nice terms such as ‘this is not good for dawa’, or ‘this would turn away the people from Islam’.

Allah says: “It is not your responsibility to guide people but it is Allah who guides whomever He wills”

This Muslim is obsessed with his image in front of the disbelievers. He is so obsessed with it that it becomes his standard for wala and bara. So he loves the Muslims who present the ‘good boy’ image to the disbelievers and he despises the Muslims who give Muslims a ‘bad name’.

Rasulullah (saaws) says: One of you does not achieve full Imaan until he loves for Allah, dislikes for Allah, gives for Allah and holds back for Allah.

This Muslim is so aggressive and intolerant with his fellow Muslims but is tolerant and kind towards the disbelievers. He is an extremist with Muslims and a moderate with disbelievers.

Whenever the interests of the disbelievers are threatened or harmed by Muslims he is the first to jump to their defense. He would speak against his brothers and betray them. He may even advise Muslims to spy against one another and report to the authorities. For him fighting for Islam, and for the ummah is terrorism, but he manages to shop for a fatwa that would allow him to serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers. Being a Muslim for the sake of the disbelievers permeates his every action. If he meets a Muslim he frowns and if he meets a disbeliever his face beams with a smile.

Infact there are some Muslims who are so much Muslim for the sake of kuffar that they do not even like Muslims who call the kuffar kuffar!

I mentioned that this is a new phenomenon because this only came about in these later times. The Muslims of the early times would care less about the kuffar, and if they ever did it was for the sake of Allah and not for their sake.

But lets put things in proper perspective:

Allah says about the disbelievers: “They are like cattle, nay, they are even more misguided”

And Rasulullah says about the believer: “Tearing down al Kaaba stone by stone is less than shedding the blood of a Muslim”

Pagan (shirk) origins of "Christmas"

 

Topic: the true meaning of Christmas

- Is Christmas a show of respect for the birth of Jesus?

- In ancient pagan times, the last day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere was celebrated as the night that the Great Mother Goddess gives birth to the baby Sun God. It is also called Yule, the day a huge log is added to a bonfire, around which everyone would dance and sing to awaken the sun from its long winter sleep.

In Roman times, it became the celebrations honouring Saturnus (the harvest god) and Mithras (the ancient god of light), a form of sun worship that had come to Rome from Syria a century before with the cult of Sol Invictus. It announced that winter is not forever, that life continues, and an invitation to stay in good spirit.

- You may wonder what this has to do with the birth of Jesus (as); let’s be clear- Christmas has NOTHING to do with the birth of Jesus and I’ll explain why

- To avoid persecution during the Roman pagan festival, early Christians decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, the celebrations took on a Christian observance. But the early church actually did not celebrate the birth of Christ in December until Telesphorus, who was the second Bishop of Rome from 125 to 136AD, declared that Church services should be held during this time to celebrate "The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour." However, since no-one was quite sure in which month Christ was born, Nativity was often held in September, which was during the Jewish Feast of Trumpets (modern-day Rosh Hashanah). In fact, for more than 300 years, people observed the birth of Jesus on various dates.

In the year 274AD, solstice fell on 25th December. Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the date as "Natalis Solis Invicti," the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.

- “Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world”

Islamic texts that prohibit Muslims from saying "Merry Xmas" or celebrating it

 

Celebrating the holidays of the kuffar is an act of imitation which is forbidden in Islam. Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم warned us against it. At-Tirmidhi narrated that Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said: "He is not one of us who imitates other than us. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians."

At-Tabarani and Abu Dawud narrated that Ibn Umar and Hudhayfah رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said: "Whoever imitates a people, he is one of them."

Furthermore, there are many Islamic evidences that forbid the Muslims from having holidays other than Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adhaa. Al-Bayhaqi reported in his Sunan that Anas Bin Maalik رضي الله عنه said: "When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم came to Medina, the people had two holidays from the days of Jahiliyyah."

He صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said: "When I came to you, you had two days which you used to celebrate in Jahiliyyah. Allah سبحانه وتعالى has replaced them for you with better days, the days of slaughter (Adhaa) and the day of fitr."

- Umar ibn al-Khattaab said: “Avoid the enemies of Allaah on their festivals.”It was reported with a saheeh isnaad from Abu Usaamah: ‘Awn told us from Abu’l-Mugheerah from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr: “Whoever lives in the land of the non-Arabs and celebrates their New Year and their festivals, and imitates them until he dies in that state, will be gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection.”‘

- When people say “exchanging gifts is a sunnah and meeting with family”, are their relatives gathering on that day and exchanging gifts solely for the sake of the sunnah? Or is it to keep up with the Jones’s? If it is “because everyone has the day off so why not?” then ask yourself, do you mark may and august bank holidays with family gatherings and exchanging gifts or does everyone make a point of feeling December 25^th has to be marked with the roast dinner and mince pies?

- as Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said in Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah: "Congratulating the kuffaar on the rituals that belong only to them is haraam by consensus, as is congratulating them on their festivals and fasts by saying ‘A happy festival to you’ or ‘May you enjoy your festival,’ and so on. If the one who says this has been saved from kufr, it is still forbidden. It is like congratulating someone for prostrating to the cross, or even worse than that. It is as great a sin as congratulating someone for drinking wine, or murdering someone, or having illicit sexual relations, and so on.

- Whoever does anything of this sort is a sinner, whether he does it out of politeness or to be friendly, or because he is too shy to refuse, or for whatever other reason, because this is hypocrisy in Islaam, and because it makes the kuffaar feel proud of their religion. 

Allaah is the One Whom we ask to make the Muslims feel proud of their religion

- Also hasn’t it occurred to anyone that when Muslims take part in these things, it puts twice as much pressure on other Muslims trying to avoid it when you get Christians approaching them saying “oh but my Muslim colleague at work comes to Christmas parties every year” and then think how hard it gets for converts who are from non Muslim families as well.

- Besides, in light of what’s mentioned in the Sunnah about imitation of disbelievers (which is mainly regarding their religious practises, not their technology), how can anyone justify rebranding this as a sunnah knowing the origins of why this day was marked in the first place?

Capitalists took their economy as Ilah besides Allah (swt)

And, verily, We did destroy the places of which you see ruins about you, and We showed them Our signs in diverse ways that they might turn (away from their wrong ways to Us). So why did not those whom they had made their ilahs, and presumed to have access to Us, help them in their hour of doom? Far from helping, they abandoned them and made themselves scarce, exposing the hollowness of their falsehoods and fabrications.

(46 : 27, 28) Surat Al Ahqa'af

Now more than ever, this COVID 19 pandemic has exposed man’s inherent vulnerability and sheer helplessness before Allah (swt). It has also exposed the weakness of the Ilah (false deities) known as Capitalist economies: built by the kufaar to showcase their prowess, strength, dominance and arrogance and what they believed to be their superiority. They can make new tanks, new fighter jets and build as many military bases as they want wherever they want but they still cannot escape from Allah (swt). Centuries of medical knowledge and the latest technological advancements are still playing catch up.

Say (O Prophet) :"Do you see what it is you invoke besides God ? Show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the heavens ? ... And who is more astray than one who invokes besides God such as will answer him not (though he call to him till) the Day of Judgment"
(46:4,5) Surat Al Ahqaf

Many Muslims assume that these are “Christian” nations, but in recent decades, I have sensed that these nations no longer worship Jesus (as) as Ilah besides Allah (swt)- rather their faith, their ideology, their yardstick for deciding what is right and wrong is more steeped in the concepts of “rugged individualism” (work for what you get and leave no room for welfare or compassion in governance), “survival of the fittest” (and let the weaker ones in society flounder, become demonised as a burden on society and die) and the unspoken rule of “life’s purpose is to prop up our economy no matter what the cost”. This is why the governments in both Britain and America reacted to the pandemic with statements like “take it on the chin” and pushed for the economy to be the highest priority over and above the health and wellbeing of the general population and this is why they were initially quite happy with the idea of letting elderly (so called “inactive” or “unproductive) people die to avoid having to pay pensions. It was only when large numbers of young and working age people became sick and overwhelmed the hospitals that these governments took the pandemic more seriously- otherwise they would’ve been happy to let it run its course and to bump off as many elderly, sick and disabled people as possible to alleviate what they’d call a “burden on society” or “bed blockers”.

These ideological concepts are heavily pushed by both the mainstream (and hard right wing) media, big businesses and the governments in America, Britain as well as Hungary, Brazil and some other countries. Gradually France, Germany and Austria seem to also be heading in the same direction in recent years.

Have you noticed the men who has made his selfish desires his ilah ? Can you assume any responsibility about such a one?
(25:43) Surat Al Forqa'an

“Here we have yet another concept of ilah... Here there is no element of the supernatural. The ilah here is some human being, or man's own selfish ego or selfish desires. No prayers are offered to it, nor is it regarded as being in a position to will any harm or benefit to someone nor is it looked to for help or succor. It is an ilah in the sense that its dictates are accepted and obeyed to such extent that that which it declares to be permitted or prohibited is treated as such, and it is deemed to have an inherent right to make us do or not do certain things, with no higher or superior authority whose approval might be necessary for its orders or which might be appealed to against them.”- Maulana Mawdudi

In this context, “Ilah” does not even refer to someone who is prayed to, but rather someone or some thing that is given supreme authority to make life and death decisions and whose judgement is taken as criteria for defining right and wrong, even when it is known to be inconsistent, contradictory and wrong. This should serve as a wake up call to all those Muslims who were mesmerised by the West and taught to replace their reverence for the ideology of Islam with reverence for the nations who posed as role models of Capitalist democracies. They sold a lie that if the general public poured life long efforts into serving and dying for this golden calf known as “the economy”’, that it’ll pay them back dividends in the form of a better life for their children- only to discover that in return for all their efforts, higher education has become unaffordable, the NHS is being sold off and outsourced like a golden arches franchise, affordable housing is increasingly out of reach and even before this crisis, over a million people in Britain were in “food poverty” (ie too poor to afford food) and one in four children in London were turning up to school hungry. These numbers of desperately poor and hungry people will rise exponentially under the lockdown and homelessness will rise even more when the lockdown is lifted.

We’ve been conditioned to ASPIRE to a way of life like that. People are crying out to RETURN to that when we know full well the evils of Capitalism has not only caused harm and misery to the lives of millions of their own citizens, it has also caused misery to millions in the Muslim world being bombed daily. It has also caused misery to millions in developing nations in South America, Africa and Asia. The Primark factory fire in Bangladesh should have been a wake up call that Unfair trade and exploitation are the default standards under Capitalism around the world and examples of this can be found everywhere. Child labourers are used to find minerals in Africa for our mobile phones and slave labour is being used in the chocolate industry. Isn’t it time we broke the shackles of our conditioning and unlearned those values to make room in our minds and our hearts for what the Creator (swt) ordained for us? And who can know better as to which way of life, which economic and justice system, which values, which criteria for right and wrong is best for creation other than the One who created us?

And He alone is the Ilah in the heavens and the Ilah in the earth; and He alone is the all-Wise, the all-Knowing (that is, He alone possesses the wisdom and the knowledge required for governing such a Domain).
(43:84) Surat Az Zukhruf

Can He Who creates, and he who does not, be alike ? Have you not sense to realize this simple fact ? ...And those whom the people pray to other than Allah, do not create anything and are themselves created ;your ilah is only one Ilah.(16 : 17-20) Surat Al Nahl

O mankind: Call unto mind the grace of God unto you; is there any Creator besides Allah, to give you sustenance from heaven or earth ; there is no ilah but He; how, then, are you deluded from Truth ?
(35 : 3) Surat Fatir

Permission to share. I also recommend reading this article by Mawlana Maududi discussing the meaning of “Ilah”: https://www.islam101.com/tauheed/ilah.htm

(Originally posted in May 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown)