How do you feel about doing something which requires a one time input from yourself and would guarantee daily hasanat flowing into your account of deeds for years and years on end?
East London Mosque/London Muslim Centre require £200,000 for refurbishment work for their ablutions area and by making a donation towards the cost of the work you can expect that everytime a person uses the facility some of the reward for performing this deed will be duplicated and desposited in your scale of deeds.
Just imagine how much hasanat you can get for your monetary contribution from a masjid which attracts 2,000 people for salaah every day, 6,000 every jumu'ah and 3,000 every night in Ramadan. The return on your investment would be immense!
Donate by clicking here.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Albert the painter/decorator
When i was a young teen my dad decided to have the house re-done. He had a new kitchen extension built, new units installed, new carpets laid, new everything. We saw lots of builders come and go in those hectic months, but no one left a lasting impression more than a young half-caste chap, in his early to mid-20s at that time, named Albert who my dad hired to do the painting and decorating, and its about Albert that i wanted to say a few words.
In our entire lives, myself and my family never met a more decent, hard-working and likeable person than this man. His work was of excellent quality - even around 15 years later, the parts of the house which he painted or wallpapered still look new. But it was his decent nature and easy-going character that we loved the most. I wanted to share three memories of him
1) Albert was a Wing Chun expert and he showed us some photos of him doing some flying kicks. He used to tell me that when he was a kid he would dig a deep hole in the ground and then practise jumping out of it as a form of training for his Wing Chun.
2) We used to trust Albert so much, we gave him a set of our house keys. He would come early in the morning, and if there were signs that no one in the house was awake, he would go to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea, then put his headphones on and quietly start working.
3) Some nights he used to work late so he would join my family for dinner before heading home (though he was already married at the time) and one night my mum had made kofte (meatball curry) with pilau rice. Now, usually, you eat 2 or 3 kofte with your meal (or perhaps 4 if you are super-duper hungry). When Albert got the dish he took about SEVEN! haha. I still remember my brothers and me giggling quietly when we saw his plate loaded with meatballs.
My family have come close to making du'a that Allah makes our path and Albert's path cross again; everytime someone brings up his name in conversation it brings a smile to everyone's face and a yearning in the heart to meet him again. Now, i know that from time to time you hear of a story of long lost friends who have found each other through the internet, and i'm not really holding out too much hope that he'll end up reading this entry. But if someone - by chance - happens to know this Albert, please put us in touch :)
In our entire lives, myself and my family never met a more decent, hard-working and likeable person than this man. His work was of excellent quality - even around 15 years later, the parts of the house which he painted or wallpapered still look new. But it was his decent nature and easy-going character that we loved the most. I wanted to share three memories of him
1) Albert was a Wing Chun expert and he showed us some photos of him doing some flying kicks. He used to tell me that when he was a kid he would dig a deep hole in the ground and then practise jumping out of it as a form of training for his Wing Chun.
2) We used to trust Albert so much, we gave him a set of our house keys. He would come early in the morning, and if there were signs that no one in the house was awake, he would go to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea, then put his headphones on and quietly start working.
3) Some nights he used to work late so he would join my family for dinner before heading home (though he was already married at the time) and one night my mum had made kofte (meatball curry) with pilau rice. Now, usually, you eat 2 or 3 kofte with your meal (or perhaps 4 if you are super-duper hungry). When Albert got the dish he took about SEVEN! haha. I still remember my brothers and me giggling quietly when we saw his plate loaded with meatballs.
My family have come close to making du'a that Allah makes our path and Albert's path cross again; everytime someone brings up his name in conversation it brings a smile to everyone's face and a yearning in the heart to meet him again. Now, i know that from time to time you hear of a story of long lost friends who have found each other through the internet, and i'm not really holding out too much hope that he'll end up reading this entry. But if someone - by chance - happens to know this Albert, please put us in touch :)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Abuse in the community
Organic Muslimah has a post on her blog about sexual and physical abuse in the Muslim community. These are two very real and very important issues that the community needs to face up to and deal with properly.
However, i think its quite an over-reaction where she says that "we must protect them [our children] from everyone, even from our own flesh and blood" and "The doorman, bus driver, public transportation passengers, uncles, cousins, and neighbors were all potential sexual abusers."
I see where she's coming from, but the tone of the post and especially the comments section is so full of paranoia, i'm surprised that the father wasn't added to that list too. How can you function normally with a world-view where you see everyone potentially being out to get your children?
Qur'an teachers in particular come in for quite a bashing in the comments section.
First off, the profession is rightly criticised for the far too-frequent stories of sexual abuse at the hands of its members. But to paint a picture of most Qur'an teachers being so untrustworthy is deeply insulting to the ones who are honest and upright, and its also like the community deliberately shooting itself in the foot. Tell me, who would want to become a Qur'an teacher if the feeling in the community was that most Qur'an teachers are perverts? And if that happened who then would teach our kids the Qur'an?
The second issue Qur'an teachers are bashed for is the beating they give to kids. Real physical abuse is deplorable, but i've been through the system as have hundreds of thousands of Muslim boys in the UK, and at one time or another i'm sure we've all experienced a beat or seen a class mate get a whack. That hasn't meant that we've all grown up emotionally scarred by the experience. A beating administered in the right way way is an effective deterrent in stopping naughty behaviour - believe me.
The topic of sexual abuse within our community needs to be discussed openly and support needs to be made available to those who have unfortunately experienced it, but the discussion must be balanced and based on real stats and not just anecdotal evidence so that we can understand the true extent and nature of the problem.
However, i think its quite an over-reaction where she says that "we must protect them [our children] from everyone, even from our own flesh and blood" and "The doorman, bus driver, public transportation passengers, uncles, cousins, and neighbors were all potential sexual abusers."
I see where she's coming from, but the tone of the post and especially the comments section is so full of paranoia, i'm surprised that the father wasn't added to that list too. How can you function normally with a world-view where you see everyone potentially being out to get your children?
Qur'an teachers in particular come in for quite a bashing in the comments section.
First off, the profession is rightly criticised for the far too-frequent stories of sexual abuse at the hands of its members. But to paint a picture of most Qur'an teachers being so untrustworthy is deeply insulting to the ones who are honest and upright, and its also like the community deliberately shooting itself in the foot. Tell me, who would want to become a Qur'an teacher if the feeling in the community was that most Qur'an teachers are perverts? And if that happened who then would teach our kids the Qur'an?
The second issue Qur'an teachers are bashed for is the beating they give to kids. Real physical abuse is deplorable, but i've been through the system as have hundreds of thousands of Muslim boys in the UK, and at one time or another i'm sure we've all experienced a beat or seen a class mate get a whack. That hasn't meant that we've all grown up emotionally scarred by the experience. A beating administered in the right way way is an effective deterrent in stopping naughty behaviour - believe me.
The topic of sexual abuse within our community needs to be discussed openly and support needs to be made available to those who have unfortunately experienced it, but the discussion must be balanced and based on real stats and not just anecdotal evidence so that we can understand the true extent and nature of the problem.
Tonight's footie
I'm looking forward to watching tonight's Champion's League Final between Milan and Liverpool, and in particular watching the old master Paolo Maldini play in his eighth such final. He has graced the game for over two decades and by all accounts is one of the most thoroughly decent and likable people in the game: a true role model for today's kids if ever there was a footballing role model.
Even though it'd be nice to see an English team become Champions i think Milan are going to wipe the floor with Liverpool.
Even though it'd be nice to see an English team become Champions i think Milan are going to wipe the floor with Liverpool.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Polygyny debate
I've been reading the online debate between Umar Lee and Ali Eteraz on the topic of polygyny. Umar argues that when the correct conditions are fulfilled polygyny should be a viable option for anyone wanting to enter into such a relationship, whereas Ali, effectively argues that polygyny is an outdated practice and has no place in an ideal society. Those aren't his exact words, but thats basically what he is saying.
I agree more with Umar than Ali, and i wanted to comment on some of the points raised in the debate and in the comments section.
The first thing i want to comment on is Ali's notion that a welfare state would be enough to fulfil the needs of women who are unfortunate enough not to have a husband. I could agree with that if i believed that such women would prefer to stay single and have the state provide a basic standard of living, as opposed the chance to have a husband (albeit shared) and the opportunity to have their own children.
Lets also look at some stats. According to estimated figures from 2005 if each male married one woman in Egypt, there would be 5 million surplus women (about 6% of the Egyptian population); in Pakistan there would be 6 million, and in Indonesia there would be a staggering 33 million women on the road "spinsterhood."
Any solutions for the above problem that do not offer polygyny as an option are doomed to failure, if only from a practical point of view.
The second issue is that people abhor the thought of a man taking a second wife "just to fulfil his desires." I think so what? They don't raise that objection when a man wants to take his first wife. At that time its all "get married brother," and "do it the halal way". So how does it suddenly become an issue when he wants to take a second wife for the same reason?
I don't see myself as particularly pro-polygyny, i'm just like Umar, if polygyny takes your fancy and you can live up to its requirements, then great, say bismillah and go for it. But the anti-polygyny brigade (generally consisting of women - who are hardly going to be unbiased on this topic - and apologists) just annoy me with their bogus arguments.
I agree more with Umar than Ali, and i wanted to comment on some of the points raised in the debate and in the comments section.
The first thing i want to comment on is Ali's notion that a welfare state would be enough to fulfil the needs of women who are unfortunate enough not to have a husband. I could agree with that if i believed that such women would prefer to stay single and have the state provide a basic standard of living, as opposed the chance to have a husband (albeit shared) and the opportunity to have their own children.
Lets also look at some stats. According to estimated figures from 2005 if each male married one woman in Egypt, there would be 5 million surplus women (about 6% of the Egyptian population); in Pakistan there would be 6 million, and in Indonesia there would be a staggering 33 million women on the road "spinsterhood."
Any solutions for the above problem that do not offer polygyny as an option are doomed to failure, if only from a practical point of view.
The second issue is that people abhor the thought of a man taking a second wife "just to fulfil his desires." I think so what? They don't raise that objection when a man wants to take his first wife. At that time its all "get married brother," and "do it the halal way". So how does it suddenly become an issue when he wants to take a second wife for the same reason?
I don't see myself as particularly pro-polygyny, i'm just like Umar, if polygyny takes your fancy and you can live up to its requirements, then great, say bismillah and go for it. But the anti-polygyny brigade (generally consisting of women - who are hardly going to be unbiased on this topic - and apologists) just annoy me with their bogus arguments.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
More on immigrants
Over the past couple of weeks i've spoken to a few people who moved to the UK, mainly from the Indian sub-continent, about how the east end of London has changed over the years. One thing we agree on is that the most recent immigrants are quite different to my father's generation of immigrants - those who came to the UK in the 70s.
My dad, his brothers, and many men i know from that generation, worked long-hours sweating to earn a living in this country. And they had respect both for themselves and their host country, and instilled that in their kids.
Now when you look at the eastern-european immigrants flooding into the country, the image is of free-loaders who are here to squeeze as much out of the government as they can, whilst breaking all sorts of rules to make extra money on the side. And thats an image not just portrayed by the tabloid media, but its what i see when i step out my door every day.
But the thing that really annoys me is just the basic lack of respect that some of these immigrants have. Back when i was a kid, i remember coming back late one evening from bowling with my cousin, and i was speaking loudly in the streets. My uncle basically told me to shutup and not disturb neighbours who were trying to sleep. Now, you have indians and tamils who walk down the road close to midnight talking so loud you'd think they were sitting in their own living rooms.
But the worst offenders for me are the Polish.
Gadzooks what is it with Polish men and urinating in the streets? So many times i've been tempted to lay into them on this blog over their tendency to urinate on main pedestrian routes in broad daylight, but i've withheld till today.
Earlier this evening, as i stepped outside my house with my young son, an aging Polish man happened to be walking past and smiled at me and my son. "OK" i thought. What does he do? He walks about 5 houses down and starts urinating on the wall of someone's front yard.
"Oiiii no!!" I yelled.
The filthy man looked round and managed a weak smile.
I shook a fist at him at which point he hastily zipped up his jeans and waddled off round the corner, not leaving one with much doubt as to what he was going to do when he rounded the bend.
Behaviour like that is just plain nasty and i'm surprised that grown polish men have no problem in exhibiting it in full view of the public.
My dad, his brothers, and many men i know from that generation, worked long-hours sweating to earn a living in this country. And they had respect both for themselves and their host country, and instilled that in their kids.
Now when you look at the eastern-european immigrants flooding into the country, the image is of free-loaders who are here to squeeze as much out of the government as they can, whilst breaking all sorts of rules to make extra money on the side. And thats an image not just portrayed by the tabloid media, but its what i see when i step out my door every day.
But the thing that really annoys me is just the basic lack of respect that some of these immigrants have. Back when i was a kid, i remember coming back late one evening from bowling with my cousin, and i was speaking loudly in the streets. My uncle basically told me to shutup and not disturb neighbours who were trying to sleep. Now, you have indians and tamils who walk down the road close to midnight talking so loud you'd think they were sitting in their own living rooms.
But the worst offenders for me are the Polish.
Gadzooks what is it with Polish men and urinating in the streets? So many times i've been tempted to lay into them on this blog over their tendency to urinate on main pedestrian routes in broad daylight, but i've withheld till today.
Earlier this evening, as i stepped outside my house with my young son, an aging Polish man happened to be walking past and smiled at me and my son. "OK" i thought. What does he do? He walks about 5 houses down and starts urinating on the wall of someone's front yard.
"Oiiii no!!" I yelled.
The filthy man looked round and managed a weak smile.
I shook a fist at him at which point he hastily zipped up his jeans and waddled off round the corner, not leaving one with much doubt as to what he was going to do when he rounded the bend.
Behaviour like that is just plain nasty and i'm surprised that grown polish men have no problem in exhibiting it in full view of the public.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Whats going on in Turkey and Blair's legacy
I was going to post something about whats going on in Turkey but i'll instead link directly to DrMaxtor's dissection of an NYT article about the Turkish protests.
Hard to imagine that a piece of cloth can make so many people upset.
It seems absurd that i feel its easier for my family to practice our religion in non-Muslim Britain than Muslim Turkey.
Now to a completely different topic: what do you think Blair's legacy for Britain is? Read the opinions of the Brits themselves here.
Hard to imagine that a piece of cloth can make so many people upset.
It seems absurd that i feel its easier for my family to practice our religion in non-Muslim Britain than Muslim Turkey.
Now to a completely different topic: what do you think Blair's legacy for Britain is? Read the opinions of the Brits themselves here.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Q & A regarding the number of verses in the Qur'an
From a Q&A with Kamil Mufti.
> I wanted to ask you...that why is it often stated that the Quran has
> 6666 ayat, although the total number in 6236 ?
Good question.
The number of verses of Quran is NOT 6666 and no Muslim scholar I know of has ever said that.
It is a lie spread by Christian missionaries that some Muslims repeat and spread in their ignorance. Google and you will be surprised how many English, Arabic, Muslim, and non-Muslim websites repeat this. Moreover, it's a common question featured in Islamic/Quran quizzes for kids! So much for people who rely on the Internet!
In Christian theology 666 is the Number of the Beast mentioned in the Book of Revelation (13:18) [sign of the Anti-Christ]. They made up the number to connect the Book of Allah and the Prophet of Islam to the Antichrist!
Damien, the devil's child in 'The Omen,' has 666 inscribed on his head.
In any case, there are many ways to refute them:
(a) The Protestants believe that there are 66 truly "inspired" books in the Bible. If they link 6666 to the Antichrist, then why don't they link their 66 books to the Antichrist too? If they don't mind adding a 6, they shouldn't mind taking off a 6!
(b) The Book of Revelation was rejected by many early Christians like Marcion, Caius of Rome, Dionysius of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, and the Synod of Laodicea in 360 C.E.
(c) Eastern Church still rejects the Book of Revelation.
(d) Martin Luther is a father of Reformation and Protestant Christianity. Rejecting this book, he writs, "I leave everyone free to hold his own opinions...I miss more than one thing in this book, and it makes me consider it to be neither apostolic nor prophetic."
(e) Old manuscripts of the Book of Revelation don't mention 666, but 616.
(f) Many Christians use 666 for political propaganda. For example, they attributed 666 to Ronald Reagan because his given name, middle name (Wilson), and surname each have six letters, thus 6-6-6, or 666. Earlier they attributed it to Nero and Domitian, two Roman emperors! Some say 666 will be part of Anti-Christ's Social Security number! Yet, others say it will be the bar code or microchip on his body! They are only limited by their imagination!
Anyways, the number of verses in the Quran according to Kufan counting is 6236. The verses are the same, but their counting is slightly different. For example, some count Bismillah in the beginning of every Surah to be the first verse, others don't. Also, a few verses are counted as two by some scholars.
The following are books written by classical Islamic scholars on the count of Quranic verses:
Adad al-Madani al-Awwal by Nafi' bin Abd al-Rahman al-Madani
Adad al-Thani by same author
al-Adad by 'Ata bin Yisar
al-Adad by Hamza al-Ziyyat
al-Adad by Khalf bin Hisham
al-Adad by Muhammad bin Eisa
al-Adad by al-Kisai
al-Adad by 'Aasim al-Juhdari
al-Adad by Khalid bin Ma'daan
Kitab by Abu Ubaid bin Sallam
Adad Aai al-Quran by Abu Hafs al-Tabari
Add Aai al-Quran 'Ala Madhab Ahl al-Basra by Abu al-Abbas al-Kiali
al-Bayan fi Add Aai al-Quran by Uthman bin Saeed
...and others
None of them mentioned the number of verses to be 6666.
And Allah knows best.
> I wanted to ask you...that why is it often stated that the Quran has
> 6666 ayat, although the total number in 6236 ?
Good question.
The number of verses of Quran is NOT 6666 and no Muslim scholar I know of has ever said that.
It is a lie spread by Christian missionaries that some Muslims repeat and spread in their ignorance. Google and you will be surprised how many English, Arabic, Muslim, and non-Muslim websites repeat this. Moreover, it's a common question featured in Islamic/Quran quizzes for kids! So much for people who rely on the Internet!
In Christian theology 666 is the Number of the Beast mentioned in the Book of Revelation (13:18) [sign of the Anti-Christ]. They made up the number to connect the Book of Allah and the Prophet of Islam to the Antichrist!
Damien, the devil's child in 'The Omen,' has 666 inscribed on his head.
In any case, there are many ways to refute them:
(a) The Protestants believe that there are 66 truly "inspired" books in the Bible. If they link 6666 to the Antichrist, then why don't they link their 66 books to the Antichrist too? If they don't mind adding a 6, they shouldn't mind taking off a 6!
(b) The Book of Revelation was rejected by many early Christians like Marcion, Caius of Rome, Dionysius of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, and the Synod of Laodicea in 360 C.E.
(c) Eastern Church still rejects the Book of Revelation.
(d) Martin Luther is a father of Reformation and Protestant Christianity. Rejecting this book, he writs, "I leave everyone free to hold his own opinions...I miss more than one thing in this book, and it makes me consider it to be neither apostolic nor prophetic."
(e) Old manuscripts of the Book of Revelation don't mention 666, but 616.
(f) Many Christians use 666 for political propaganda. For example, they attributed 666 to Ronald Reagan because his given name, middle name (Wilson), and surname each have six letters, thus 6-6-6, or 666. Earlier they attributed it to Nero and Domitian, two Roman emperors! Some say 666 will be part of Anti-Christ's Social Security number! Yet, others say it will be the bar code or microchip on his body! They are only limited by their imagination!
Anyways, the number of verses in the Quran according to Kufan counting is 6236. The verses are the same, but their counting is slightly different. For example, some count Bismillah in the beginning of every Surah to be the first verse, others don't. Also, a few verses are counted as two by some scholars.
The following are books written by classical Islamic scholars on the count of Quranic verses:
Adad al-Madani al-Awwal by Nafi' bin Abd al-Rahman al-Madani
Adad al-Thani by same author
al-Adad by 'Ata bin Yisar
al-Adad by Hamza al-Ziyyat
al-Adad by Khalf bin Hisham
al-Adad by Muhammad bin Eisa
al-Adad by al-Kisai
al-Adad by 'Aasim al-Juhdari
al-Adad by Khalid bin Ma'daan
Kitab by Abu Ubaid bin Sallam
Adad Aai al-Quran by Abu Hafs al-Tabari
Add Aai al-Quran 'Ala Madhab Ahl al-Basra by Abu al-Abbas al-Kiali
al-Bayan fi Add Aai al-Quran by Uthman bin Saeed
...and others
None of them mentioned the number of verses to be 6666.
And Allah knows best.
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