Religious ethics clash with loan practices | csmonitor.com
Allah Most High says in the Qur’an:
002.276 Allah has blighted usury and made almsgiving fruitful. Allah loves not the impious and guilty.
There are many answers on the prohibition of usury (riba), including commercial bank interest, on www.SunniPath.com
Book Review: Why the Culture Can’t Be Jammed - It’s all one system - Is it?
Hmmm… Well, I can’t have Chiapas chocolate…
“Consumer culture co-opts everyone in the end, see?”
Another review:
Why the Culture Can’t Be Jammed
Adab of Debate (For Presidents) - The New Yorker: Shouts and Murmurs
“….Once a debate is concluded, candidates shall be permitted to toss articles of clothing, excepting underwear, into the audience for keepsake purposes.”
Very thoughtful talk. Pointed out by a dear friend…
Some Signs of Success
Imam Abd Allah Ba-Sudan al-Hadrami said in his al-Anwar al-Lami`a, a
commentary on al-Risala al-Jami`a,
“Among the signs of true success (tawfiq) is witnessing one’s
shortcomings, while having high resolve; remaining lowly and needy; being
characterized by slavehood to Allah, with true following of the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) in his actions, states, words, and
character; yet not beholding any of this nor relying on it nor being tricked
by it or stopping with it.” (p. 120)
Faraz Rabbani (faraz@sunnipath.com)
Beautiful Qur’anic Recitation - Shaykh Mishari Rashid al-Afasi
Shaykh Mishari’s recitation is beautiful and full of spirit. Many thanks to Sidi Munawwar Qadri for reminding me of it…
There is no pain more poignant than unrequited love.
Legal Affairs - When to Hold ‘Em
Preventative detention…
When we act without the wisdom, dignity, and restraint that are at the essence of the sunna of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him, his family, companions, and all followers), then how can we expect anything else?
Islamic clerics issue edicts against sex determination: “Islamic clerics issue edicts against sex determination”
Controlling choice for freedom…
Praising the Prophet - “O Guide of Humanity” - Ustadh Hasan Haffar and other Halabi munshids
“O one by whose guidance those of felicity are successful…”
Words and Action
“It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to submit to it.” (Cervantes)
On the authority of Abu Malik Al-Harith bin Asim Al-Ashari said that the messenger of Allah said:
“Purity is half of faith. alhamdu-lillah [Praise be to Allah] fills the scales, and subhana-Allah [How far is Allah from every imperfection] and alhamdu-lillah [Praise be to Allah] fill that which is between heaven and earth. Prayer is light; charity is a proof; patience is illumination; and the Quran is an argument for or against you. Everyone starts his day and is a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or bringing about its ruin.”
Related by Muslim.
The Chronicle: 9/17/2004: Delving Into Democracy’s Shadows
“The sociologist Michael Mann took a detour from his epic study of power in human history. It led him straight to the horrors at the center of modern life…”
What does ‘Jewishness’ mean today? | csmonitor.com
What does “being Muslim” mean? What does traditional Islam mean?
… searches for meaning…
Sunday 5 September 2004
Copernic Desktop Search - The Search Engine for Your PC
Copernic Desktop Search - The Search Engine for Your PC
No, I’m not into advertising for them… but this is a very solid product. It allows you to search your files, email, and other resources at stunning speed. (Unlike Windows and Outlook, which are ant-like in their speed.)
God bless.
Sunday 5 September 2004
Love of the Prophet
Response of Shaykh Muhammad Qaylish on how to deepen one’s love for the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him, his family, companions, and followers).
Sunday 5 September 2004
Where ignorant armies clash by night
If one surfs Muslim forums, whether Sunni or otherwise, there is a startling reality: forgotten priorities.
We find armies of ignorant people clashing in the darkness of ignorance about matters they don’t understand, matters that the great imams of Islam differed upon with decorum.
Such argument and dispute is highly reprehensible. The Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“No people went astray after having been given guidance except after they started argumentation.” [Tirmidhi and Ibn Maja, from Abu Umama (Allah be pleased with him)]
Imam Ghazali mentioned numerous harms in argument and disputation, at the level of individuals, relations between individuals, and at the level of community. The most fundamental problem is at the level of the human heart: it busies the heart with darkness, and fills it with blameworthy character traits such as arrogance, love of dispute, leaving sincere counsel for one’s fellow human, and anger.
The Qur’an and Sunna, on the other hand, express the centrality of the need to make one’s heart busy with nothing other than Allah, and our limbs busy only with that which is pleasing to Allah.
Friday 3 September 2004
Dover Beach - Arnold
Beautiful…
….
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
See notes at: Notes on Dover Beach
When one sees many of the things done in the name of Islam, it seems clear that these angry men are lost on a darkling plain, swept away by their passions, far from the sunna of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)…
May Allah give us light.
Friday 3 September 2004
Islamic Marriage Mawlid
There is an excellent Islamic marriage mawlid, led by Ustadh Amin Tirmidhi (the master munshid from Halab, Syria, based in Amman), as part of the wedding celebrations of my dear friend Sidi Kemal Cecunjanin.
It is hosted, along with a lot of excellent Islamic songs, at www.DeenPort.com.
Wednesday 1 September 2004
Habermas and the Way of Truth
General , Islam | No Comments
Who is this Habermas guy? — Jurgen Habermas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Someone was upset at a recent link, and asked me, "Do you really believe all this non-Muslim drivel?"
The answer may be found in the words of Imam Ghazali,
"Whoever determines the truth from people alone will remain lost in the plains of bewilderment. Rather, know the [f: way of] truth, and you’ll know its people." [Ghazali, Ihya `Ulum al-Din, ‘The Book of Knowledge’]
The scholars explain that this means is that the seeker of knowledge and awareness should know the methodology by which to determine whether something is true or not, whether it is sound or not, whether it is right or wrong. Then, we weigh matters according to this.
Doing this would make one aware of those whose words and ways one can generally follow without hesitation; those we can following after deliberation can follow or in some matters and not in others; and those whose words and ways one is wary of and only accepts with much caution…
As for the question, "Who is this Habermas guy?" Please check the link.