A treatise focusing and answering the concerns regarding the legal rulings of Zakaat ul Fitr. This text is compiled and written by Imam Khalil Abdullahi (hf) and serves as an excellent reference for one fulfilling this obligation. This is a useful and important read considering the days of this holy month of Ramadhan are numbering lower and lower each day and Eid is quickly approaching. You can download this treatise here or here.
Asalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatahu,
Much speculation has arisen about the notion that U.S. President Barrack Obama could possibly be a ‘secret Muslim’. This theory has always been around since even before he began running for president, however belief in this theory grew only stronger following his most recent statements concerning the ‘ground zero mosque’ situation stating his support and backing for the mosque. The belief that Obama is actually a ‘secret Muslim’ can be found both within the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. However we must ask, does a statement such as the one made by Obama really make him a Muslim or does it just make him a politician?
The first point we should look at is history. American Presidents, especially in the modern era, have often showed support to Muslims and Muslim organizations if and if only there is a risk of constitutional values, or rather they a risk of America looking very bad in the international spotlight. Bill Clinton while he neglected to provide any real military or other forms of physical support to the Muslims in Bosnia he still remained as very loud voice in the condemnation of the Serbian aggression and genocide against Bosnian Muslims
Ronald Regan who today has become the poster boy of many far right wing conservatives was not only an open vocal supporter to the Taliban and other Muslim groups during their fight against Soviet Russia, but he even sent over government and private agencies to help provide material support in the fight.
Even the second president of the U.S., Thomas Jefferson, owned a Qur’an and studied from it while in university and is said to have derived many aspects of law and conduct of war from it.
Now all of this does not mean that they necessarily respected Islam or Muslims in their entirety, as the other actions in their career proved quite well that would harm Muslims just as soon as they would defend them, but it does show that this pattern of ‘love and hate’ is common within U.S. Presidents in their relationship with Islam and Muslims and is a useful diplomatic strategy. Obama is not a ‘secret Muslim’, because the proof for such claims is nothing other than a repetitive diplomatic strategy used by those U.S. Presidents who came before him. Based on this ‘proof’ than Clinton, Regan, Jefferson, and every other president who ever showed support to Muslims must be ‘secret Muslims’ as well.
The second point I want to make is more so a preventive response to the common argument that Obama is a Muslim based on his speech in Cairo in 2009 in which he addressed the Muslim world. Now the speech itself is just as I stated above, a diplomatic effort to keep under control the one group of people and the one belief system that can be an end to American fascism and tyranny, so there is no need to address that aspect of the speech rather only one line needs attention turned to. Within the speech Obama quotes a hadith. For whatever reason this was a shock and awe for Muslims around the world that a human being other than a Muslim would be able to successfully do a little bit of research and quote a hadith. This is not a substantial proof for the claim that Obama is a Muslim, the proof for this is found above when I spoke shortly about Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson not only read the Qur’an, but derived beliefs and ideas from it and incorporated them into what would become the republican wing of American politics. Simply because a person knows a little something about Islam does not make them a Muslim.
My final point and conclusion is that Obama is not a Muslim, just another politician trying to hold a country together as it slowly falls apart. ‘Showing support’ is not a declaration of faith, so until Obama says Ash Hadu ila ilaha il’Allah wa Ash hadu ana Muhammadan ar’RasulAllah (There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is The Messenger of Allah), he remains as a disbeliever. I understand however why so many Muslims would believe this, why so many would want to believe this. We are a people in suffering, a people in need, a people in search of some kind of hope that can lift us out of the darkness of this dunya. However relief from these things will not come from the politicians, but rather through the revival of this deen al-Islam in every aspect of it. So let us begin to focus on that and put aside the theories and speculations, Insha’Allah.
This is a basic demonstration of Salaah according to the Maliki madhab (school of thought) demonstrated by Abdullah Ali al-Amin al-Sicili. This is only a simple and basic explanation, not a depth study or explanation.
Below is a description of Salaat based on the description given by the Shehu Usman Dan Fodio raheema’Allah ta’alaa….
You start by making the intentions for the particular prayer you are about to perform and then, raising your hands to about the height of your shoulders, you say “Allahu Akbar” and lower your hands to your sides. Then your recite the Fatiha followed by a sura or other piece of Qu’ran. During the recitation you stand upright with your head level and your eyes lowered. When you have finished reciting the sura you say, “Allahu Akbar” and go into ruku’ (bowing position). In ruku’ you place your hands on your knees and your back should be more or less parallel with the ground. You do not raise or lower your head and your arms should be slightly away from your sides. While in ruku’ you glorify Allah saying, “Subhana rabbiyi’l-adhim,” (Glory be to my Lord the Great) three times. Then you stand upright again, saying, “Sami’a’llahu liman hamidah. Rabbana wa lakal-hamd.” (Allah hears the one who praises Him. Our Lord to you belongs all praise.) If the prayer is being led by an Imam, he says the first half and those following him respond with the second half.
Then, saying “Allahu Akbar”, you go down into sujud (prostration), placing your hands on the ground before your knees. Your forehead and nose should touch ground. Your hands should be level with your head with the fingers slightly apart pointing toward qibla and your arms should be away from your body with the elbows well off the ground, like outspread wings. Your feet should be upright with Allah saying, “Subhana rabbiyi’l-a’la” (Glory be to my Lord, the Exalted) three times.
Then you lift yourself up saying, “Allahu Akbar”, and sit back. You fold your left foot under you while you sit between prostrations, and you keep your right foot upright. You push yourself up from the sujud with your fingertips and lift your hands from the ground onto your knees. Then you prostrate a second time as you did the first time. You then stand by pushing yourself up with your hands. You do not go into sitting position and then stand up from there. Doing as we have stated, you say “Allahu Akbar” as you stand up.
You then recite in the same way as you did before, starting with the Fatiha and following it with a sura or other passage from the Qur’an which should preferably be slightly shorter than the one you recited in the first rak’at and come from later in the Book. You then complete the rak’at as you did the first, going into ruku’, standing `up from it, and going into sujud twice as has already been described above. However, this time, after the second sajda, you do not stand up but sit back on your left buttock with your left foot under your right leg. While sitting like this you say the tashahhud. Your left hand should be placed palm down on your left thigh with the fingers together. Your right hand should be made into a fist and then placed on your right thigh, thumb on top, with the index finger extended and pointing forwards. As you recite the tashahhud you move the top half of your index finger back and forth. The text of the tashahhud has already been given above.
If the prayer you are doing consists of only two rak’ats you now say the salaams and the prayer is finished. If the prayer is longer you stand upright again after finishing the tashahhud and when you have reached the upright position you say “Allahu Akbar”.
You then complete the prayer in the way that has already been described except that you only recite the Fatiha. After the tashahhud in the final rak’at you recite the prayer on the Prophet called the Salat al-Ibrahimiyya whose text has also been given above. Then you say the salaams to end the prayer.
Women do the prayer in exactly the same way as men except that they gather themselves in, keeping their bottoms down and their arms close to their sides.
Asalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatahu,
Before the beginning of this Ramadhan the Ummah witnesses yet another year of constant debate between those who wish to adhere to and uphold the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) and than those who wish to develop and utilize modern innovated methods in the practice of ‘sighting the moon’ to determine the coming of Ramadhan and the first day of the sacred fast.
Those who adhered to the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) upheld the practice of local or regional moon sighting. Where the fast was determined based on the moon sighting done by Muslims within the same particular region or city. The Nur uz Zamaan Institute has written a piece defending this stance and has been available for some time now, it can be read here.
Those who wish to turn to more ‘modern’ methods believe it is possible for the Ummah to begin Ramadhan based on a global moon sighting. Many have boasted at the modernity, ease, simplicity, and benifit of this newly invented practice adopted by some of the Ummah, even those who claim to have ilm. This is why a large number of Muslims in North America began Ramadhan by fasting on August 11th, 2010. This date was not determined by the clear methodology of The Prophet (saw), but through the organization ‘ISNA’ calculating and fixing the date weeks before Ramadhan even began. Not only does this take away from the practice of regional or local moon sighting, but throws aside the practice of sighting the moon at all! As well this practice only further limits and suppresses the abilities of indigenous Muslim Americans excelling at all in their independent practice of Islam without having those overseas, who have very little if not any connection with the community here, dictate how they are to practice their deen. This has long been part of a pattern of suppression and the forcing of Saudi Arabian dates and verdicts upon the indigenous Muslim community when we are an entire ocean away. As if the House of Saud was not pleased enough with having a monopoly upon an entire region, they feel the necessity to expand into the international Ummah.
While the moon may have been possibly sighted in Arabia, as they report it was by Bedouins in Shagrah near Riyadh, was it sighted anywhere here in North America?
Brother Fuad Musa of Chile stated that the Hilaal for Ramadhan was NOT SEEN by the indigenous Muslim communities of Chile nor Argentina. There was even an effort from the Astronomy Department at the University of Chile to assist in sighting the Hilaal, yet nothing was found. The Nur uz Zamaan jamaat had also requested brothers of the jamaat all over the east coast to keep a watchful eye on the 10 of August, yet no one reported a single sighting of the Hilaal. In reality, the only Masjids and communties that began Ramadhan on the 11th in North America where those who have allowed themselves to be governed by a council not only in their community but an entire ocean and continent away as well as allowing organizations like ISNA to abandon the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) in exchange for a more ‘convenient practice’ as they have been for seven years propagating the view that sighting the moon regionally and locally with the naked eye is ‘fard kifyah’, or ‘not required’.
In conclusion we encourage the readers of our blog to seek knowledge and again read the piece written by The Nur uz Zamaan Institute defending the practice of the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) in sighting the moon, it can be read here. You can also partcipate in our online discussion on this serious matter on our forum here.
Finally, the indigenous Muslims of America, and same goes for elsewhere, do not need to rely upon those overseas nor the ‘self proclaimed’ leaders and spokesman for the American Muslim community. We are capable of running our own communities locally, being independent and sufficient in the practice of Islam, and have the ability to uphold the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) and preserve the traditional practices as they have been for 1431 years Insha’Allah ta’alaa Ameen.
WRITTEN & COMPILED BY IMAM KHALIL ABDULLAHI
If we were to look at the saying of Imam at Tahawi (rh), who was in fact a true ‘Salafi’ (i.e. was born and lived in the time of As-Salaf us Salih), and than in comparison look at the many sayings referenced from the books of the Wahabis (i.e. wrongfully called Salafiyyah, Wahabiyyah, Neo-Salafis, etc.) ,we’ll find that their beliefs and saying to be a direct opposition and contradiction to the creed of Imam at-Tahawi (rh), which is in fact the creed of Ahluls Sunnah wal Jammah. This is the same Imam at-Tahawi who’s work of literature, Aqeedah at Tahawiyyah, that in a sense laid out the foundation for the modern curriculum of study within the science of Aqeedah or creed.
Imam Abu Hanifah (rh) said within his book Al Wasiyyah….
“Allah existed eternally and there was no place; He existed before creating the creation. He existed and there was not a place, a creation or a thing; and He is the Creator of everything. He who says ‘I do not know if my Lord is in the heavens or on the earth,’ is a kafir. Also is a kafir whoever says that ‘He is on al-^arsh, and I do not know whether al-^arsh is in the heaven or on the earth’.”
Consequently, the great true ‘Salafi’ Scholar Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal declared a kafir whomever says these last two phrases because they contain attributing a direction, boundary, and place to Allah. Everything which has a direction and boundary is by necessity in need of a Creator. Thus it is not the intention of Imam Abu Hanifah to prove that the heaven and al- Arsh (i.e. throne) are places for Allah, as those who liken Allah to the creation claim. This is by virtue of the aforementioned saying of the Imam: “Had He been in a place needing to sit and rest, then before creating al-Arsh where was Allah?”, which is clear in negating that Allah has a direction or a place.
As well to further demonstrate the severity of this issue we look at the saying of Shaykh Abdul-Ghaniyy an-Nabulsiyy who said….
“He who believes that Allah filled the heavens and earth or that He is a body sitting above al-Arsh, is a kafir.”
If we were to look directly at Al-Qur’an we should look at Surah Maryam ayah (i.e. verse) 93 which means….
“All those in the heavens and earth must come to Allah as a slave.”
In his Tafsir (book of explaining the Qur’an) Imam ar Razi states….
“… and since it is affirmed by this ayah that everything that existed in the heavens and earth is a slave to Allah, and since it is obligatory that Allah is clear of being a slave, thus He is clear of being in a place or direction, or on al-Arsh or al-Kursi.”
Hence Surat Taha, ayah 5 in Al Qur’an, clearly does not mean that Allah sits on the throne or that Allah is firmly established on the throne. In the Arabic language, the word istawa has fifteen (15) different meanings, among of which are to sit, to subjugate, to protect, to conquer, and to preserve. Based on what we have covered so far it is clear that it is blasphemous to apply the meaning ‘to sit’ to Allah. However the terms to preserve and to subjugate are in compliance with the Religion and the language. And those so-called translations of Al Quran that referred to the term “Istawa” to “Sits” or “Sat”or “Established himself firmly on the throne” contradict Arabic rules, and Islamic bases. Be warned from such translations and such attributes, Allah is almighty clear from the sitting, movement, size, shape, form or change. Allah is great.
It is sufficient to prove that the true Salaf cleared Allah from having shape or form or being contained in place. As Imam Abu Hanifah mentioned in Al Fiqh al Absat….
“Allah existed eternally and there was no place; He existed before creating the creation. He existed and there was not a place, a creation or a thing; and He is the Creator of everything. He who says ‘I do not know if my Lord is in the heavens or on the earth,’ is a kafir. Also is a kafir whoever says that ‘He is on al-^arsh, and I do not know whether al-^arsh is in the heaven or on the earth’.”
This is our belief, this was the belief of the early Salaf, this is the belief of Ahluls Sunnah wal Jammah! Can the Wahabis or wrongfully called Salafis abide by the beliefs of such men like Imam Abu Hanifah (rh) or will they continue down their current path? If they can abide than let them (i.e. the Wahabis) get rid of their falsehood and submit to the true beliefs of As Salaf us Salih, those noble men and women whom they claim to follow and so enthusiastically (and falsely) attribute themselves to.
Asalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatahu,
The Light of The Age forum is the official online forum for The Nur uz Zamaan Institute and Jamaat. It is where YOU have your voice heard, it is where brothers and sisters can come together for advise, questions and answers, to share valuable information, or even to just discuss simple matters of the deen al Islam.
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Asalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatahu, The Nur uz Zamaan Institute cordially invites you to Salaat al Taraweeh for every night during this holy and sacred month of Ramadhan. After Salaat al Isha (9:30 p.m.) join as at Masjid Birr wa Taqwa for Salaat al Taraweeh lead by Hafiz Muhammad Asrim.
Masjid Birr wa Taqwa is located at 23 South 52nd Street, Philadelphia PA. Join us during this holy month, bring your friends and family, and Ramadhan Mubarak!
Asalaamu Alaikum, The official position of The Nur uz Zamaan jamaat is that the first night of Taraweeh will begin on Wednesday (August 11th) and the first day of fasting will begin on Thursday (August 12th). JazakAllahuKhairun and let us make our intentions pure insha’Allah ta’alaa Ameen!!! Ramadhan Mubarak Ya Muslimeen!!!
Philadelphia is bleeding, leaking thru its jugular vein. The children are now the mothers, and the fathers have been slain.
The ones left aren’t crying because the drugs have numbed the pain, wandering through these streets it seems we cannot stop the rain.
The Ummah is divided no one here to sow the gaps, the brothers killing brothers and write about it in their raps.
You cannot leave your home unless your adequately strapped, for the shoot out during Dhuhr while the young boys play their craps.
And what about the babies they just wanted to play in their lawn, and what about the righteous who prostrate way before its dawn, who are up until its late praying and do not sleep or care to yawn, what do we tell the mothers when their babies are long gone?
Philadelphia is bleeding, and I don’t know what to do, because it seems to me the occupants just do not have a clue.
And its sad to even say it but what’s more sad is its true, instead of being loyal to your Lord they say their loyal to their crew.
Muslims shunning Muslims, yet their friendly to disbelievers, everyone’s telling lies competing to be the best deceiver, while the women raise the men, hiding scars given from the one that beat her.
Maghrib is coming in and we’ve already lost three lives. The sisters want a divorce because he’s not just to all his wives, he doesn’t have the money and he cannot split the time, so now muslimah’s out past Isha, working ready to lose her mind.
The women no longer know what it means to have humility, the men they love pleasure, but run from responsibility.
And the only excuse they give is “this is what my environment did to me.” But you wouldn’t have time for the streets if you were in the Masjid diligently, consistently, and willfully.
Give no Sadaqa say you hurting,….
….but you keep a bottle of Bourbon,….
….keep that dutch filled and at arms reach,….
….and no one practices what they preach!
Im so tired and if I was like them I’d be one of the one’s leaving.
But I don’t run this is where Im from, but Philadelphia is bleeding…….
A well done hilarious realistic skit by The Academy of Essential Knowledge youth. Keep up the good work young brothers.
Sayf al Haqq 