Category: Quote-Unquote – Book V (401-500)

Who Worries about the Non-Muslims [Quote - 500]

Muslims are worried about Muslims. How to get them closer to God. And how to get them into Paradise.

And there are a million shaikhs and mowlanas and wannabes on their trail.

There is also money -- and a career path? -- in Muslims. But that is a different story.

You know "Halal" Meat and all that. As if the other meat is Haram!

But the question is: Who is worrying about non-Muslims? In any shape or form, as they say?

Except their God, of course, in the Qur'an.

Who among Muslims is concerned about taking the message of the Qur'an to the non-Muslims of the world: in America; in Japan; in China; in UK; in Europe -- and everywhere else?

Who among Muslims is worried about giving the non-Muslims a chance, no matter how small and no matter how fleeting, of knowing God, of learning about God, of being able to hear the words of God, directly and without adulteration?

Who among Muslims wants to stand on a mountaintop and cry out, as the Qur'an does:

O, those who have wronged themselves!
Despair not of the Grace of God!
God forgives all sins and transgressions.
For, that is who God is.
He is the Most Most Loving, the Most Forgiving!

Who will ever go to the non-Muslims of the world and put these words of God -- words of the Qur'an -- in their ears?

END

Islam vs. Anti-Islam: Truth vs. Falsehood [Quote - 499]

Sometimes, it may appear as if non-Islam – or call it Anti-Islam if you will, just like A and Not-A or Matter and Anti-Matter – has everything. And Islam and Muslims have nothing.

But we have – Islam has and Muslims must have – what much of non- or anti-Islam does not, and, in many cases, cannot have.

And that is our Integrity – unassailable and unimpeachable, and totally unavailable for sale or cooptation.

Our Commitment to Truth as it were – to seek it and to speak it as much as it is in our power as human beings to do. Frail and flawed as we are, and we shall always be, as human beings.

Once we lose our grip on our Integrity, and on our Commitment to Truth, we run the risk of losing everything else.

Go, read your Iqbal now.

And if you don’t know who or what Iqbal is or was, go find out. Here is a hint to help you out.

Iqbal, along with Ghalib, was one of a handful of the World’s Greatest Poets of All Times and in All Cultures and Languages.

And just like Ghalib, Iqbal too wrote his super-human work, not just in one language, but in two languages – all at the same time: Urdu and Persian or Farsi.

And, just as it was in the case of Ghalib, the work he produced was better and even more superior in one language than it was in the other language. Don’t ask me which was which.

If you don’t know this, that is, if you don’t know who Ghalib and Iqbal were, or how great they were, or the fact that they both produced their masterpiece poetry in two languages and not in one language, then, forgive me, but regardless of whether you are a Muslim or a non-Muslim, your education, culture, training and knowledge are that much the poorer and deficient for it.

I mean if you don’t know about Iqbal and Ghalib, or if you do not have the right and proper perspective on them, and on how great and remarkable and unique they truly were, then you owe it to yourself to go and remedy that deficiency.

Just like I wish there was a way for me, at this stage in my own life, to learn Latin, Sanskrit, Greek and all the other beautiful languages of the world.

In any case, the point I was trying to make is this: Anti-Islam, as opposed to Islam, uses Falsehood, and not Truth, as its main weapon of war against Islam and Muslims.

For, if Anti-Islam uses Truth, and does not use Falsehood, it will perish. Period.

It will self-destruct.

The equation is simple and straightforward:

If Islam and Muslims use anything but Truth, they will lose and disappear.

If Anti-Islam uses anything but Falsehood then it will cease to exist.

In other words, Truth to Anti-Islam is like Sunlight is supposed to be to the mythical monster Count Dracula and his disciples. Sunlight comes and they disappear.

That is because Islam is Haq. And Anti-Islam is Batil.

Anti-Islam is the child of darkness and deviancy, and of evil minds and depraved souls, and unlike Islam and Muslims, Falsehood is its natural home and habitat.

Qul Jaa-al Haqqu Wa Zahaqal Baatil!

How much more clear or beautiful can it get?

So, for Anti-Islam, it is Lie Through Your Teeth or Perish!

And for Islam, it is tell the truth or pay the price.

As to what specific forms of Falsehood does Anti-Islam resort to and utilize in its war on Islam and Muslims? Here is an incomplete but a very common laundry list of them:

  • Every conceivable kind of propaganda;
  • Demonization of Islam and Muslims and all its other enemies;
  • Manipulation of facts and information and images;
  • False framing of unsuspecting innocents;
  • Planting of cooked evidence in show trials in Kangaroo Courts;
  • Fabrication of entire stories and storylines;
  • Brazen False Flag Operations in which Anti-Islam perpetrates the most terrible things and then turns around and blames Islam, Muslims and other innocents for them;
  • Unscrupulous fudging of data, small and large.

Let me summarize my main point one more time:

If Islam resorts to lies, in preference to Truth, it must pack up and go home.

If, on the other hand, Anti-Islam turns to using Truth, and puts away for a day its arsenal of lies and fabrications, and Falsehood, it must inevitably self-destruct.

Now, you go and figure out who does what, and you will know Haq from Batil, Truth from Falsehood – no matter what media, and no matter what books, and no matter what scholars or politicians, tell you what.

Then you decide on whose side you think God would or should be.

END

Want to Tell a True Hadith? Do a Hypothesis Test! [Quote - 498]

One way to determine the truth-value of a Hadith is by testing it against facts. Both historical and contemporary facts -- in the real world.

In other words, with regard to any given Hadith Sharif, do a simple Hypothesis Test.

The specific argument I am making -- the hypothesis I am suggesting -- is this:

"If this particular Hadith -- any given Hadith -- is true, that means, if it is really from Allah, and if it really and truly came out of the blessed and unerring lips of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, then it is bound to fit reality, the events and situations of the real world, as we find them at any time or in any given place."

This is, if you will, an empirical test of a Hadith -- beyond the regular, established methods pursued by traditional Muslim Scholarship through the ages of Sanad and Matan (Matn).

Sanad Method means the critical examination of the Reporting Chain of the Hadith.

Matan (Matn) Method is the critical examination of the actual text or words of the Hadith.

While the Sanad Method is accepted by all, what I am calling the Matn Method is questioned by some.

That is because some people argue that a Hadith attributed to Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, must be accepted, or rejected, based entirely on the strength or weakness of its Chain of Narration.

Full stop.

And this should be regardless of any analysis or independent insight one may develop into the actual wording of the text itself.

It is an interesting debate in many ways.

But I do want to commend a Third Method to Islamic Scholarship at all levels: the Hypothesis Testing Method.

I want to submit it as an additional Third Method for the critical examination, verification and validation of a Hadith, beyond and in addition to, the other two established methods of historical Hadith Scholarship of Sanad and Matn analysis.

That means, just check to see how the content of a Hadith -- any given Hadith -- unfolded over time during the past 1400 years.

And, soon enough, you will know.

Wa La-Saufa Ta'alamoon!

END

Of Actions & Intentions: A Most Glorious Hadith [Quote - 497]

In Islam, actions matter. So do the intentions that drive them.

There is a beautiful Hadith that puts this in perspective.

Hadith means the words of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, that history has documented as faithfully, accurately and thoroughly as it is possible for history and humanity to do it.

And, if you ask me, all Hadith are beautiful, as they have to be, if they are the words of a chosen human being – Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam – inspired and guided by God Almighty.

In the meantime, don’t mind my using the expression Hadith as both singular and plural at the same time.

So, the Hadith I am referring to goes like this in the original Arabic:

“Innamal A’amaalu Binniyyaat!”

I have spent decades trying to find the right English translation for it. I continue to have difficulty, to this day.

Maybe someday, should God Almighty so will and decree it, the right set of words would come along and fall in place.

Right now, I am content with saying that the Hadith underscores the organic – natural and inseparable – interrelationship between our actions and our intentions.

Just think for a moment. How much of a better world our world would be, in every way, if all of us – each one of us – paid as close attention to our intentions as we, hopefully, pay to our actions.

And, of course, our actions, both private and public, should always be the best in every way that we can possibly make them.

For, that is Islam – in a nutshell, as they say.

END

Playing Golf and Learning to Paint [Quote - 496]

Some of the "better" Muslims I know are playing golf. Allah bless them.

Yes, there is such a thing, I suspect, as "better" and, possibly, "worse" Muslims. I will be vastly surprised if there isn't.

And that is good. I mean playing golf.

Some other "better" Muslims are taking painting lessons from some of the most prestigious universities in the world.

And that is good too. I mean taking painting classes from good and great universities in the world.

If you ask me, for Muslims -- or for anyone -- just to breathe the air on a good university campus is a good thing in and of itself.

And so is clocking a few hours, being out in the open and walking the lush lawns of a nicely manicured golf course.

Knowledge is from God in heaven. And universities are temples erected in the pursuit of knowledge on earth.

If you wish, call them Sawaami'u wa Biya-un Yudhkaru Feehasmullah, and you may not be too far off the mark.

Islam says seek knowledge, for, it is your duty to do so.

Universities say come to us, we will give you knowledge. We will teach you how to go looking for knowledge.

So universities are good. And looking into the courses they offer is good.

Obviously, these "better" Muslims are doing these things because Allah has given them "better" means than many, if not most, other ordinary and regular Muslims around the world.

So playing golf is good. And taking painting classes at universities is good.

But a question that continually tugs at my heart and wouldn't let go is this:

What about that other little detail in our life -- that tiny little job that all of us have been given by God of taking the Qur'an to every home and heart that needs it -- and which one does not?

Who is minding that store when these "better" Muslims are playing golf and pursuing their God-given passion for painting, following the powerful Sunnat of the likes of Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin?

Who have they deputed or commissioned to watch that store while they are out golfing, or painting -- or fishing?

END

What about This World Muslims? [Quote - 495]

I know Muslims are worried about their Palaces in Paradise. As they should.

And I don't blame them for doing that.

But my concern is -- and always was -- this earthly abode on which God placed me. And told me to go and take care of it. And to make it a better place for all.

My paradise is not my concern. Never was.

My paradise is in the hands of the one who made it and manages it.

And who dispenses it as he pleases. To whomsoever he pleases.

He gave me too much sense to worry about what he does -- what is basically his business.

I have my hands full worrying about what I am supposed to do -- right here on earth.

END

Islam and Democracy: Real vs. Unreal [Quote - 494]

I have spent a lifetime learning, reading, analyzing, researching and thinking through Islam on the one hand and Democracy on the other hand.

And here is some of what I found.

In any society, where there is no democracy, there can be no true Islam, no matter how much people in that society practice some of the essentials of Islam such as pray and fast and do Hajj and affect what they may claim is “Islamic” garb.

Conversely, also, where there is no Islam, in such a society true Democracy will remain a dream, ever distant, and fading, and constantly in search of fulfillment – often reducing the boasts of the people of that society about some of the essentials of Democracy such as Human Rights and Freedom of the Press to ironic, tired and empty clichés.

Meaning:

No Democracy, no True Islam!

And No Islam, no True Democracy!

END

Ease of Use Is What It Is All About [Quote - 493]

We live in an age of technology. The daily progress in that field is truly head-spinning. It is fair to think that very few people can truly keep up with what comes down the pipe on a daily basis. In the midst of all this, one thing for Muslims to keep in mind is to ensure ease of use at all levels. That means whenever Muslims use technology, they must make it easy for those with the most primitive means to be able to access and use it. If that goal is not met, it is all pomp and show -- and quite probably very little Islam.

END

British Muslim Converts [Quote - 492]

First of all, the word is "converts," not "reverts."

Converts is simple English -- queen's or every English speaker's.

Reverts is mumbo-jumbo and part of new English-speaking Muslim contortionism.

American converts over the past four decades have done their bit, and I will leave it at that. Some of the damage some of them did is, well, irreversible.

But Allah does act in ways that to us mortals may appear mysterious and unfathomable. So, who knows how things will turn out.

For, I don't see America being abandoned by God in a hurry. And that is despite some of the most egregious things America allows herself to do locally and internationally.

In some ways, the good clearly outweighs the bad. But who is to tell.

I am a Muslim and America to me is home. And that is where it stops. So, the options are: pray for America and hope.

And work ceaselessly and tirelessly to help wherever and however one can.

Hope that the good will rise up and shine and inflict crushing defeat after crushing defeat on the bad.

And the damage at least some new Muslim converts did in and to America, and to Islam and Muslims and the world, they did it with full complicity and patronage from the "native" or "heritage" type Muslims, most of them from Indo-Pak region or the Middle East, many of them with an ingrained colonial mindset and inferiority complex.

The UK converts seem to be a lot smarter. Mostly white, with some black faces bringing up relief. Many of them female.

For one, many of them seem to be after Islam, and not Muslims. And many of them seem to come from some kind of a university background.

And many of them seem to have a life outside Islam. A seemingly normal, functioning, productive life that does not seem dependent on sucking up energy, sustenance and resources from Muslims and in the name of Islam.

And many of them seem to have figured out how to navigate the troubled and turbulent waters of British "native" or "heritage" type Muslims.

There was a time I used to worry about them: what Muslims would do to them. Now it seems no one needs to worry. For, the British converts to Islam seem perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

And also of making an impact on society around them.

Is this a breath of fresh air? It certainly appears to be so.

Does this augur well for Islam, Muslims and the world? Who can tell.

I don't know if Muslims are in the business of keeping their fingers crossed. Or if they are allowed to do that. If you ask me, they certainly must try and err on the side of hope and optimism.

I for one am going to allow myself the luxury of saying:

Thank you brothers and sisters of the UK Muslim community who have made a conscious and rational decision to embrace Islam!

Welcome home and God bless you!

I am going to talk myself into waiting for good and great things to come from where you are.

END

Marrying the Perfect to the Imperfect [Quote - 491]

Islam is from God. Therefore, it has to be perfect.

Muslims are people. Therefore, they have to be imperfect.

This world is a place where there is a marriage of the perfect with the imperfect -- of the Divine System of Islam with mortal and flawed human beings who answer to the name of Muslim.

You can imagine the rest of the story: a troubled roller-coaster relationship between the two.

That is why, as someone so wonderfully put it: While the Faith is perfect, many of the Faithful are not.

Yet, the fact remains, in any time or place, imperfect as they are, these Muslims are the people whom God has chosen to carry his flag -- and wear his uniform.

For, no one comes into Islam, either by birth or through conversion, except based on a direct invitation from him -- from God.

END