Riyadat an-Nafs

Fayd from Allah

2008-03-18T18:55:00.002+02:00

As you know, whenever you surround yourself by people, and stay near them, you will be influenced by them, and will take on some of their characteristics.

Shams al-Tabrizi (r.a.) says,

"Without doubt, whenever you sit with someone and are with him, you will take on his disposition. On whom have you been gazing that tightness should have come into you? If you look at green herbs and flowers, freshness will come. The sitting companion pulls you into his own world. That is why reciting the Koran purifies the heart, for you remember the prophets and their states. The form of the prophets comes together in your spirit and becomes its sitting companion."

- Shams Tabrizi

That is in regard to reading the Qur'an, and the same can be said about reading the biographies of the Messenger (pbuh), for the more you sit with him, peace be upon him, and live in his world, the more you acquire some of his dispositions.

In regards to the Salaat prayer, sayyidi al-shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari (r.a.) said,

In the courtyard of the generous we have come to rest, and in their courtyard their generosity overflows onto us. As the peasant saying of the old woman says, "He who is in the vicinity of the blessed will be blessed, and his lights will overflow onto him; and he who is in the vicinity of the damned will be damned, and will be burned by his fire".

So how could you stand before Allah Most High every day, five times, without one of His attributes overflowing onto you, when He is the source of all Generosity.

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, "And the Salaat is light."

So think of that. Be aware, when you pray, that you are in the vicinity of Allah Most Transcendent, Who is nearer to you than your jugular vain. Be aware of this when you say, "al-tahiyyatu lillahi wal salawatu wal tayyibat." The more you are aware that you are in the vicinity of Allah, in the courtyard of Allah, standing before Allah, the more you will acquire some of His attributes, for He is most generous.

Wasslam.

Ibn Idris' tafsir of the Salaat

2007-11-08T09:56:00.000+02:00

I have translated two important teachings of sidi Ahmad ibn Idris regarding Salaat:

1) Why is it very important to pause at the end of every verse when reciting the Fatiha in Salaat?

2) An explanation of the takbir that begins the salaat, and the takbirs during the salaat, and the taslims at the end of the salaat. In effect, it is an explanation of the deeper meaning of the entirety of the salaat.

It is on my new blog: http://riyada.hadithuna.com/the-mumins-ascension/

Smoking and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya

2007-10-07T12:25:00.000+02:00

The great sufi masters of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements all spoke out against smoking and criticized it strongly. Here are some explanations on why they considered it to be haram.

We begin with Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh (d. 1719) because of his historic precedence and because the book of his teachings, al-Ibriz, is one of the most widespread and highly valued Sufis works today . He said, “Tobacco is forbidden (haram) because it harms the body, because those who smoke it have an addiction to it that keeps them from worship of Allah and cuts them off from it…and because the angels are hurt by its smell.”

His student asked, “But garlic and onions and the like have a bad odor and eating them is not forbidden.”

He replied, “If the right of the human and the right of the angel came into conflict, then the right of the human is given precedence because everything was created for the sake of humans, and therefore that which benefits humans is not forbidden even if it harms angels. And in garlic and onions are clear benefits, in contrast to smoking for it has no benefit….” (1)

Another great shaykh among the Muhammadiyya turuq was Ahmad Tijani (d.1815), founder of the Tijaniyya. He declared Tobacco to be forbidden based on the Prophetic tradition that “All that causes a state of weakness is prohibited”, and tobacco causes a state of weakness because of the smoker’s addiction and dependency.

Al-Tijani also demanded that smokers repent or they will not die a good death, and when one of his followers was dying, he started uttering vulgar words and was not able to say the Shahadah, despite having been a pious man of much worship. When al-Tijani found out that he smoked, he said that this was why he could not utter the Shahadah on his deathbed and that he must repent immediately.

Al-Tijani’s companions refused to give the litanies of the path to any seeker who smoked Tobacco, and if they found out that someone smoked they forced them to quit their litanies until they stopped smoking. (2)

Then came the student of al-Dabbagh’s student, the great scholar Ahmad ibn Idris (d. 1837). He was just as strongly opposed to smoking. When teaching a Prophetic hadith about Allah’s hatred for money squandering, he said,

And the greatest waste of money is in Tobacco. For I heard that in a previous year in which it was scarce, people used to buy it for 11 Riyals a pound. What mind does such a person have? Is there a mind behind this? No, it is far behind! Did he clothe he who has no clothes, or feed the hungry? And it doesn’t nourish or satiate…. And it causes illness: do you not see the chimneys of kitchens, how their shafts become blackened from the smoke that passes through them? So how do you think is the chest and throat of the smoker? Rust has piled up in them, so what benefit is sought from a person whose state is thus? For we have known many who quit it and became much happier, had lesser expenses, and their disposition came back to balance as they have told us; and they were able to sleep better, sleep being the source of man’s rest and mental stability. So what waste of money is worse than this waste?

And I was told by him in whose truthfulness I have no doubt, and in whose story I trust, that he saw the Prophet (pbuh) in his sleep and said to him: ‘Oh Messenger of God, is tobacco halal or haram‘? So he turned to Aisha who was next to him and said: ‘If she smoked it I would not come near her’. So he said, ‘Is it halal or haram’? He said, ‘If she smoked it I would not come near her’ three times. The man of the vision said, “I thought about saying to him: Did you forbid it in the Sharia? And if so, in which part of hadith? But I forgot because of the state I was in.”

So look at that which, had Aisha the mother of the believers smoked, the Messenger (pbuh) would have parted with her. What greater catastrophe is there than the separation of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and the Mother of the Believers, and what greater exposition of its prohibition than this? And he who has seen the Prophet (pbuh) in a dream has truly seen him, and he who has seen him in sleep is as if he has seen him in waking. (3)

Ahmad ibn Idris’ grandson Muhammad al-Sharif relates that a scholar asked Ahmad ibn Idris to help him see the Prophet (pbuh) in a dream. So when Ibn Idris saw the Prophet (pbuh) he said: ‘Oh Messenger of God, so-and-so wants to see you in his sleep’, but then the Prophet turned away from him. Then the next time he saw him he mentioned the same thing and the Prophet turned away from him again and it happened a third time. So Ahmad ibn Idris wondered why the Prophet turned away every time he mentioned this man, and the Prophet turned back toward him and said: “This man smokes, and I do not go to him who smokes.” Ahmad ibn Idris told this to the scholar the next time he saw him, which caused him to cry until he fainted. After this he repented for who he had been doing and God accepted his repentance and the Prophet visited him in his sleep for the sake of shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris.

Muhammad al-Sharif also relates about his father Abd al-Aali, Ibn Idris’ son, the following: A man came to my father and said, “This is the price of the wheat, and this for the fava beans, and this for the tobacco.” So Abd al-Aali said with anger, “subhanAllah brother! Who told you to plant tobacco on our land?” And he refused to take the money from the tobacco, and ordered the man to leave the land a whole year without any plant until it is purified.

Finally, Muhammad bin Ali al Yamani, the great grandson of Ahmad ibn Idris through his other son Muhammad al-Qutb, was once invited to the house of a man in Dunqula, Sudan. He accepted the invitation. Before that day came, he passed by the store of the man who invited him and saw him selling tobacco so he said: “subhanAllah brother, you sell tobacco? Your food is haram and I withdraw my acceptance of your invitation”, and he did not go to his house. (4)

There are many more examples from other turuq and other shaykhs, but these shall suffice to show how serious of a sin smoking was considered for these Muhammadan Sufis: It annulled your permission to recite the path’s litanies, it kept the Prophet (pbuh) away from you, it made any money made from it haram, and therefore your food and that which you bought with your money haram, and it prevented you from every Muslim’s greatest wish: husn al khatimah, sealing one’s life with a good end.

And think about this: If tobacco makes the land on which it is planted impure, then what of the body that inhales it?

————

1. al-Lamati, al-Ibriz min Kalam Sidi Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, pg 260-1.

2. sufi.forumup.co.uk/post-2201-sufi.html

3. Ahmad ibn Idris. al-Iqd al-Nafees, Cairo: Dar Jawami’ al-Kalim, pg 60-1.

4. Saleh al-Jaafari. al-Muntaqa al-Nafees, Cairo: Dar Jawami’ al-Kalim, pg 93.

Technorati Tags: Islam, Smoking, Halal vs. Haram, Fatwa, Tobacco, Sufi.

This Blog is Moving!

2007-10-04T07:45:00.000+02:00

As you can see, I have decided to breathe some life back into this blog, now that I have a lot of time for it. I have already written three new long posts (but only two appear here). That is because I have moved the blog to the following address:

http://riyada.hadithuna.com/

please visit there regularly, as insha'Allah I will update it frequently.

My next priority is creating a special page for all the Tariqa Muhammadiyya posts, including the newest one I just wrote about the view of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya shuyukh on smoking.

But I still start getting back to other topics of interest, not just focus on the tariqa muhammadiyya.

wassalam.

The Shii Doctrine of Isma

2007-10-03T14:37:00.001+02:00

Isma means infallibility and impeccability: to be free from error or sin. Imami (Twelever) and Ismaili (Sevener) Shiis hold that their Imams have isma. The following is based on the notes I used in order to give a short lecture on the topic.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the earliest Islamic period, the Muslim people had not yet formed clear-cut sects like Sunnism or Shiism. Instead, there were opposing trends, each with tens, sometimes hundreds, of groups under its fold. This was especially true of the Alid, or proto-Shia, movement, which was consisted of hundreds of different groups with highly divergent, even conflicting, beliefs. From this same group, for example, would come the Abbasids who overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and replaced it, as well as the proto-Shia followers of Jafar al-Sadiq's sons, who would form the Abbasid dynasty's enemies, the Imami (Twelever) and Ismaili (Sevener) Shii sects.

Because of this situation, there were no universally approved leaders of the Alid movement- but there were always certain stars that shined more than the rest. After Imam Ali's two sons from his wife Fatima (al-Hasan and al-Husayn) died, the next most important figure behind whom the Alids flocked was Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. This was a third son of Ali, but from a wife that he took after the passing of Fatima (r.a.).

At the time of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr had set himself as a counter-caliph to the Umayyads, and had met the approval of all of the Hijaz, reducing the Umayyad control to Syria. Thus the Muslims were divided into three large camps: The Zubayrids, the Umayyads, and the Alids who followed Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. Ibn al-Hanafiyya had so much prestige among the people, and so many followers, that he could have easily taken the Caliphate for himself- but he did not seek it. Whoever he would give allegiance to, would therefore be more likely to win, but he refused to give his allegiance to someone who did not meet the approval of all Muslims.

At that time, all indications pointed toward a Zubayrid victory, except that their constant battles with Kharijites weakened them enough for the Ummayyads to defeat them under the leadership of the infamous al-Hajjaj. When Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya saw that the Ummayads won, he gave them his allegiance, in order to preserve the unity of the Muslim ummah, even though he could have revolted against them, even toppled them.

But after Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, the Alids did not have another great leader for a while. They all loved and respected al-Husayn's son Ali Zainul Abidin, but he had no political role. His own son Zaid did not consider his father to be an Imam because he never sought power or held it. The proto-Shiis were again just a large array of different groups with divergent beliefs, united only in their desire to topple the Umayyads and put a Hashemite in power. Back then the movement was called a Hashimiyya movement, because they wanted someone from the Prophet's clan Bani Hashim, a subdivision of Quraysh. Being a descendant of the Prophet (and Ali) was not a prerequisite for all groups, and eventually it was the Abbasids, descendants of the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas, who would come to the forefront of the Hashimiyya movement.

After the passing of Ali Zainul Abidin, more revolts agaisnt the Umayyads ensued. One major revolt was led by Zaid, his son, who fought against the Ummayad caliph Hisham and was defeated. A large section of the Hashimiyya/Alid/proto-Shias had made Zaid their Imam, and these would later become known as the Zaidi Shia- the third largest Shia group still extant today. Other Shia with more extremist beliefs offered him his allegiance on the condition that he denounce the Prophet's companions Abu Bakr and Omar. When he refused to say anything but praise about them, they withdrew their support, and he said, "laqad rafadtumuni" (you have rejected me), after which they became known as Rafida (the rejectors), which is a label still used today to denounce the Shia.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE DOCTRINE

All this historical introduction was important to make two points clear:

1) There was still no clear Imamate among the proto-shiis. Each group had its own leader.

and 2) The Zaydis were the first major sect to form from among the proto-Shia. This happened around the middle of the 8th century (Zayd's revolt took place in December 740). The Zaydis do not believe in the Isma, or infallibility, of Shia imams. This is clear evidence that the idea of the Isma had not yet emerged, or at least, had not taken hold, among the proto-Shia groups.

The other main figure that emerged at that time was Zaid's brother, Muhammad al-Baqir. Those who did not follow Zaid flocked around Muhammad, and when Zaid died he became the major figure among the proto-Shia.

This time, the time of Muhammad al-Baqir, is a major turning point for these Alid movements. The reason is that at this time, Muhammad al-Baqir was the only heavyweight figure, and most, if not all, Alid groups considered him as their imam. It was at this time that the idea of a single imam who is divinely guided and immune from sin or error, in other words, ma'sum, really emerged and began to gain widespread acceptance among the proto-Shia. Muhammad al-Baqir and his descendants did not seem to have openly claimed this idea but did not criticize it either, allowing this idea to spread and take hold.

The first clear doctrine of isma is that of the early theologian Hisham b. al-Hakam. He said that Prophets may disobey God but then be reproached by the Qur'an. The Imams, however, could never err, sin, or disobey God in anyway (presumably because there could be no new revelation to reproach them). Obviously this doctrine in which Imams seemed better than Prophets will be changed with time.

Muhammad al-Baqir was succeeded by his son Jaafar al-Sadiq, who also gained the unanimous support of the Alids. Thus began to emerge the idea of a succession of Imams, and idea that was not present before, and does not exist in Zaidi thought. But for non-Zaidi Alids, this belief that the imams are divinely appointed, and that it is transferred from father to son, became the accepted doctrine.

These divinely-appointed imams were thought to have inherited all the knowledge of the Prophet, and thus to be identical with him in knowledge and wisdom.

They developed the doctrine that out of God’s divine kindness and grace, there has to be at all times a guide to whom people can turn for certitude in religious matters and who can settle all problems with perfect justice. At first there were prophets, and them Imams. They argued that due to God's grace, it was impossible for the world to ever lack such a perfect living Guide. The isma of the Prophets and Imams thus became an early cardinal dogma.

Because of their belief that there will always be a living Imam ma'sum to guide them, the majority of the proto-Shia developed the following belief: That rational methods of deducing religious law, like individual reasoning, analogy, or transmission of hadith all corrupted the religious law. Reasoning is faulty and hadith might be false or inaccurate- only mass-transmitted hadiths are acceptable. Only an Imam ma'sum can protect the law from corruption. This meant a clear condemnation of the entire science of usul al-fiqh and of the reliance on singly-transmitted traditions (hadiths).

[When their line of Imams unexpectedly came to an end after Jaafar al-Sadiq's 5th descendant, they had to reverse their entire doctrine regarding jurisprudence and hadith, in order to fit the reality of them lacking a living imam. However all their previous doctrines still exist in their oldest books.]

This, however, was only the majority of opinion. Many companions of the Imams themselves considered them to be pious learned men, whose authority based purely on a scholarly basis. Many companions of the Imams believed that the Imams used analogical reasoning or independent judgment in legal opinions, and would thus question them on basis of their rulings, argue with them, and even outright disagree with them.

One of Jaafar al-Sadiq's most competent companions was known Abu Basir. He was highly praised by the Imams and is considered one of the four elite scholars of the Shia religion. He did not accept the legal opinions of Jaafar's son and successor Musa al-Kazim and thought that he had not yet acquired an adequate knowledge of law. This goes against the belief, held by the majority, that upon the Imam's death, all of his knowledge is transferred to son.

At this point there was a major split in the Shia community. Jaafar al-Sadiq had first appointed his son Ismail as his successor, and a large portion of the community started looking to him for guidance, because they believed that the Imamate is transferred at the time of appointment. However Ismail died, while his father was still alive, and so Jaafar appointed his son Musa al-Kazim as successor. This created a split between those who chose to follow Ismail's son Muhammad (the Ismaili or Sevener Shiis), and those who chose to follow Musa al-Kazim (later to become the Imami or Twelever Shiis). Ismail's infant son Muhammad disappeared, and the Ismailis held that he had gone into occultation, and that he will come back at the end of times as the Mahdi.

As for those who followed Musa, the proto-Twlevers, their line of imams continued. In the year 874, the 4th Imam to lead the proto-Twelevers after Musa (considered the 11th imam in general by the Shia), died. With him ended the line of living Imams. His followers resorted to the belief that he had given birth to a son, the 12th imam, who had been concealed from the community and will emerge from his occultation at the end of time as a full-grown man, and as the Mahdi. As you can see, this idea of occultation was not new. In fact it was first held by some extremists regarding Ali when he died, and later Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, and then Ibn al-Hanafiyya's son, then the Ismailis, and now it was taken up by the proto-Twelvers. As mentioned above, this suddenly brought about the very situation that the proto-Shia had been claiming, in their debates with Sunnis, was impossible: that the world could exist without a living, present, infallible Imam, who will solve any religious problem and ensure justice. In fact that had earlier held that only an infallible Imam could execute hudud punishments (severe punishments for adultery, theft, murder, etc).

Because of this sudden reversal, the Shia had to abandon their earlier doctrine and borrow Mutazili beliefs, which placed a high emphasis on mental reasoning. These were the very beliefs they had attacked for centuries, when they did not expect their line of imams to die.

But as we said before, there was always the minority view that the Imams were not infallible and that they were scholars who exercised reasoning and mental judgment. This view was held, as mentioned, by close companions to the Imams, and was now upheld by some of the later theologians. One prominent example is Muhammad b. Qiba al-Razi, one of the leaders of the Shia community in the tenth century, and highly respected by later scholars. He said that the Imams were only pious scholars who had comprehensive knowledge of the Quran and Tradition. Some of the traditionists of Qum, who at that time became the very backbone of Shia thought, held the same opinion.

In 945, an unprecedented event took place: A Zaydi Shia dynasty known as the Buwayhids conquered Baghdad, and turned the Sunni Caliph into a puppet figure. The Buywahids (aka Buyids), allowed Shia thought to flourish in the Caliphal capital, Baghdad. It was at this point that the proto-Twelver community began developing a clear-cut doctrine, and became what is now known as Imami or Twelver Shi'is. The Twlever Shia doctrine began to spread, and it was strengthened by a re-writing of the past, so that it appeared as though there was a continuous line of Imams, by succession, from the time of Ali until the twelfth Imam. Many traditions were invented and sayings ascribed to earlier Imams. The Buywahids later generations of Buwayhid rulers eventually became Twelver Shii's themselves. But they kept the Abbasid Caliphate in place, and their political enemy was in fact the Ismaili Shia Caliphate in Egypt.

At this period, known as "The Shia Century", the doctrine of the Isma developed as follows:

* Ibn Babuya (d. 991), held that Imams and Prophets were immune from both error and sin. However, the Imams were not immune from sahw (inadvertence: to make an oversight, an unintentional mistake, or a careless omission). He argued they did such mistakes to remind people that they were only human.

* Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 1022), held that Imams and Prophets were immune from inadvertence, forgetfulness, and major sins. However, they were capable of committing minor since before their prophethood or imamate, as long as they were not disgraceful.

and finally

* Sharif al-Murtada (d. 1044), who held that they were immune from any error or sin, both before and during their prophecy or imamate. This is the accepted belief today.

----------------------

All information about the actual doctrines on Isma and the beliefs of the imams and their companions comes from Shia sources. They can be found in:

- Modarressi, Hossein. Introduction to Shii Law: A Bibliographical Study. London: Ithaca Press 1994.

- Encyclopedia of Islam 2: Isma

- Madelung, Wilferd, "Authority in Twelver Shiism in the absence of the Imam", La notion d'autorite au Moyen Age: Islam, Byzance, Occident. Presses Universitaire de France, Paris 1982, pp. 163-74.

Technorati Tags: Shia, Shiism, Islam, Isma.

Shiism and Christianity

2007-10-03T12:08:00.000+02:00

Over the past 4 or 5 years, I have been realizing just how much Twelever, or Imami, Shiism is similar to Christianity, primarily Roman Catholicism. I never really had a conscious effort to compare the two, but every once in a while I'd learn of something in Shiism that would remind me of Christianity and think "huh". Sadly I never wrote them down as they came along so I've forgotten a lot of these similarities.

Just yesterday I was watching tv with my aunt and we saw some Shii supplications being chanted and my aunt noted how much it resembled, in style, the supplication of priests and pastors. This led me to try and list for her the similarities between Shiism and Christianity.

Well, on the very same night, I was reading a magazine at the doctor's office and was surprised to find a short book review for a book comparing Roman Catholics to Twelver Shi'is! The book is called Roman Catholics and Shi'i Muslims: Prayer, Passion, and Politics and is written by James A. Bill. The review itself was short, but it gave some more examples. So here is a short list of the similarities that come to my mind, as well 3 or 4 from the book review. The most important similarities are of course those of doctrine, but I will list those toward the end.

* First of all, the most important event in the history of Shi'i Islam is the Battle of Karbalaa, in which the Prophet's grandson al-Husayn, peace be upon them both, and his family, were martyred. This martyrdom has almost the same significance for the Shii's as the crucifixion does for Christians.

* The identical practice of passion plays, in which Roman Catholics and Twelver Shii's commemorate and re-enact the Crucifixion and the massacre at Karablaa, respectively.

* Shii's self-flagellate every year in large processions, in order to atone for their sin: the fact that they (or rather their ancestors) failed to support al-Husayn at Karbala. This practice is usually looked down upon by the Shi'i Ulama but they cannot say anything against it because of its popularity with the public. Since the 13th century, and throughout the middle ages, there was a large Flagellant movement in which processions would walk long distances flagellating themselves, sometimes during a pilgrimage, and this is still practiced today by some Christian groups. It was outlawed by the Catholic Church, however.

* Al-Husayn's mother Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, peace be upon them all, has taken a very similar role in Twlever Shiism as the Virgin Mary in Christianity, and even the paintings they do of Fatima are almost identical to those that Christians do of the Virgin Mary. While painting of humans, especially religious figures, is strictly forbidden by Islam, Twelever Shi'is have always drawn the family of the Prophet, in the same style as those of Mary and Jesus are drawn in the Christian tradition.

* Christianity was at first the religion of the weak and oppressed (I'm remember here what Nietzsche wrote about religion in general), and in the same way, the first proto-Shii groups provided a cause for the weak and disaffected within Muslim society, and as these groups had not really developed an ideology yet, most of their followers came because they felt oppressed.

* Twelver Shiis and Roman Catholics share a hierarchy of priesthood (ulama in the case of the Shiis). This does not exist in Sunnism, but the hierarchy is elaborate and well-defined in Shiism.

* At the top of the hierarchy for Roman Catholics is the pope, while for Twelver Shiism it is the 12 Imams and those who represent the twelvth Imam now that he is in occultation. Both the Roman Catholic pope and the 12 Imams are thought to be infallible. Even the highest level of ulama today for shii's, the Ayatollah, are considered to be almost infallible. While they are not said to be infallible, they are treated in the same way. This is why in Twelever Shiism no Ayatollah can ever reverse the fatwa of a previous Ayatollah, because that would imply a mistake on the behalf of an Ayatollah.

My next post will be about the historical development of the idea of infallibility of the Imams in Shii thought, insha'Allah. It is based completely on Shi'i sources and studies of Shi'i sources.

* The importance of - and impatience for- the return of Jesus/the Mahdi in Christianity and Shiism. Much more so than in Sunni Islam.

Those were some similarities that I can think of right now, but there were many more that I feel I had noted and have forgotten. I'm sure the above-mentioned book has many more examples and a deeper level of analysis but I dont think I'll be buying it.

Technorati Tags: Shia, Roman Catholic, Islam.

Beautiful Video

2007-09-25T17:16:00.000+02:00

Ramadan Mubarak everyone!

15th of Shaban

2007-08-27T07:44:00.001+03:00

Bism Allah,

We are now nearing the middle of the blessed month of Shaban I will summarize briefly what is important to know about this month and about the night of the 15th of Shaban, which will be the night of Monday the 27th of August, 2007 (while the day of the 15th is on Tuesday the 28th of August). The following information is taken from the book Al-Ghunya of Imam Abdul Qadir al-Jilani:

* The importance of Shaban:

- In a sahih hadith sayyida Aisha (r.a.) reported that beside Ramadan, the Prophet fasted voluntarily in Shaban more than he did in any other month. Umm Salama (r.a.) reported the same thing in another hadith.

- In another hadith, she says that the Prophet preffered fasting in Shaban more than in any other month, and when she asked him why, he said because in this month, the Angel of Death has the names of all who will die during the remainder of the year written down for him, and he (pbuh) would like that if his name is written down, that he is fasting when that happens.

- The companions of the Prophet, when they saw that Shaban began, would immerse themselves in the Quran, take out the Zakat so that the weak and the poor will have the strength to fast Ramadan, and the rulers would have all the prisoners called unto them so that if one is deserving a Hadd punishment it is given to him, or else he is freed. And the merchants went and paid off all debts and took what is theirs. Until they see that Ramadan has begun after which they purify themselves with a major ablution and devote all their time to worship.

* The Month of the Prophet

- Allah (swt) chose from everything four, and from the four one... And from the months he chose Rajab, Shaban, Ramadan and Muharram, and chose from among them Shaban, and made it the month of the Prophet (pbuh), and as the Prophet (pbuh) is the best of Prophets, so is his month the best of months.

- It is related from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet said, "Shaban is my month, Rajab is the month of God, and Ramadan is the month of my Ummah. Shaban is the eraser [of sins], and Ramadan is the purifier."

- It is a month in which good things are opened, blessings descend, wrongful acts are abandoned, sins are erased, and the salawat on the Prophet are increased.

- It is the month of tasliya on the Prophet pbuh (doing lots of salawaat on the Prophet).

-Everyone must prepare himself in this month for Ramadan bu purifying himself from sins, repenting from what was done in the past, turn to God, and make tawassul to God with the Prophet (pbuh) whose month this is.

Start this today and do not postpone it for it is said that the days are three: Yesterday, which is gone, Today, which is work, and Tomorrow which is hope: you don't know if you will reach it or not. So from yesterday there are lessons, from today there are spoils to take (good deeds), and in Tomorrow is risk. And so are the months three: Rajab (the previous month) is gone, Ramadan awaits and we don't know if we will live to reach it, and Shaban is a connection between the two, so get as much good deeds as possible in this month.

THE NIGHT OF THE 15TH

Haa Meem. By the Book that makes things clear. We sent it down during a Blessed Night (Quran 44:1-3)

Ibn Abbas (r.a.) said, Haa Meem means that Allah has decreed all that will be until the Day of Resurrection. By the Book that makes things clear that is the Quran We sent it down the Quran during a blessed night it is the night of the middle of Shaban, and it is the "Laylatul Baraa'a". And so said most Quranic commentators, except Ikrimah who said it refers to the Laylatul Qadr.

The Quran called this a blessed night because in it is the descent of Mercy, Blessings, Goodness, and Forgiveness to the people of Earth.

According to hadiths about this night:

- God forgives on this night every Muslim, except the mushrik, the one who is bent on hatred for others, the one who has severed familial relations, and the woman who is prostituting [on that night].

- On this night, sayyida Aisha felt the Prophet leaving her bed, she got up to look for him and found him prostrated on the ground, and he kept praying until the morning. Then he said, "Do you know what is in this night? In it is written down all who will be born this year, and all who will die, and in it their sustenance is brought down, and their works and doings raised up."

- On another such night, the Prophet said, "Do you know which night this is? It is the night of the middle of Shaban- in it are the works of the servants raised up, and in it God frees from the fire as many people as the number of hairs on the cattle of the tribe of Kalb". Then the Prophet (pbuh) asked Aisha if he may spend the whole night in prayer, and he stood up and started the first rak'a with the Fatiha and a short sura then prostrated in sujood for half the night, then got up for the second rak'a, read as much as he did in the first, and prostrated again in sujood until Fajr.

- God forgives sins on that night for as many people as the number of hairs on the cattle of the Kalb tribe.

- This is one of the four nights in which God pours down goodness on people a great pouring. In this night people's sustenance and fates are written down, and those who will go to Hajj are written down.

Regarding the verse,

Therein every wise affair is made distinct (44:4 - coming after the three verses mentioned above), Ikrima the servant of Ibn Abbas said: It is the night of mid-Shaban-[in it] Allah decides the affairs of the year, moves the names of those who will die this year from from the records of the living to the records of the dead, and writes down those who will go to Hajj, and no one will be added or removed."

* The Meaning of Baraa'a

The word can be translated into any of the following in English: absolvement, exoneration, aquittal, release, releaf, discharge.

It was said, "it was called the night of Baraa'a because it has two baraa'as, the wretched will be given baraa'a from the all-Merciful, and the awliya will be given baraa'a from being abandoned or let down."

Concluding Hadith

Abu Huraira (r.a.) reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to me on the night of mid-Shaban and said to me: ”Ya RasulAllah, raise your head heavenwards!” I asked him: “What night is this?” and he replied: “This is night when Allah, Glorified is He, opens three hundred of the gates of mercy, forgiving all who do not make anything His partner. The only exceptions are those who practice sorcery or divination, are addicted to wine, or persist in usury and illict sex; these He does not forgive untill they repent.”

At a quarter of the night, Gabriel, peace be upon him, came down and said: Ya RasulAllah, raise your head!” So i looked up,to behold the gates of Paradise wide open. At the first gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who bow in worship this night!” At the second gate an angel was calling: "Good news for those who prostrate themselves in worship this night!” At the third gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who offer supplication this night!” At the fourth gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who make remembrance this night!” At the fifth gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who weep this night from the fear of Allah!” At the sixth gate an angel was calling:”Good news for those who submit this night!” At the seventh gate an angel was calling: “Will anyone ask,that his request may be granted?” At the eight gate an angel was calling: ”Will anyone seek forgiveness, that he may be forgiven?”

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “O Gabriel, how long will these gates remain open?” He replied: From the beginning of the night until the break of dawn.” Then he said: “Ya RasulAllah, tonight Allah has as many slaves emancipated from the fire of hell as the number of hairs on the flocks and herds of the Kalb tribe.”

CONCLUSION

The Prophet recommended we fast the 13th, 14th, 15th of every Islamic month, the reward of each being multiplied by ten, giving us the reward of fasting the entire month and thus the entire year. If you missed the 13th of this month (Sunday the 26th of August), try to fast the day of the 14th, so you are fasting before the night of the 15th begins, and then fast on the day of the 15th itself (in the Islamic calendar, the night comes before the day, so that the night of the 15th precedes the day of the 15th).

Try to stay up that night (Monday night) in prayer and Quran recitation. And remember, this is the month of the Prophet, so keep constant in your tasliya, try to read as much as possible from the Prophetic biography, and make Tawassul by asking Allah to forgive you, and to cover you in Light, by His love for His Prophet to whom he singled out this blessed month.

The Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya and the Shadhiliyya

2007-06-26T12:17:00.000+03:00

The Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariq of Ahmad ibn Idris, though independent, is connected to the Shadhiliyya order and based on its principles. But before we look at how these two orders are connected, let us look at the principles of the Shadhiliyya order as described by Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh, the shaykh of al-Tazi, who in turn was the shaykh of Ahmad ibn Idris.

Al-Dabbagh was asked the following question:

“What is the difference between the Way of al-Shadhili and his followers, and the Way of al-Ghazali and his followers? the first seems to be fully centered around gratitude and joy to the Giver without any exertion or struggle, while the other seems to be focused on spiritual exercises (Riyadah) and hunger and staying awake and tiring acts of exertion, so are they both in congruence on the necessity for Riyada? and Imam al-Shadhili seems to command (his followers) to have gratitude after coming close to Arrival (Wusul) or upon reaching it, or even to have gratitude and joy in Allah from the first moment of the Path. And could both Ways be taken at the same time by one person, or is it that you cannot benefit from one unless you avoid the other? Please give a thorough response…”

He answered,

The Way of Gratitude (Shukr) is the original Way, and it was the Way traveled by the hearts of the Prophets and the Pure Ones among the Sahaba and others, and it consists of worshipful devotion (‘Ibadah) of Him Most High with sincerity in servanthood and being free of all personal aims and selfish portions, coupled with recognition and admittance of one’s own impotence and deficiency and inability to fulfill the rights of Lordship, and that all of that become established and settled in the heart in every passing moment and hour. So when He (Most Exalted) saw their truthfulness in that, He rewarded them in accordance with what His overflowing Generosity would dictate, such as an opening into His Knowledge and obtainment of the secrets of secured belief (Iman) in Him.

“And when the folk of Striving heard of the attainments of these, they made these attainments their ultimate aim and desire, and sought them through acts of fasting, praying at night, periods of solitude (Khalwa), until they obtained whatever they obtained.

“Therefore, in the first Way (of Gratitude) the move (Hijrah) was - from the beginning - towards Allah and His Messenger, and not towards spiritual illumination and unveilings, whereas in the other Way (of struggle) it was towards the obtainment of spiritual openings and levels and degrees in that. The walking in the first Way is a walking of hearts, while in the second Way is a walking of bodies; and the Opening (Fath) in the first is of-a-sudden, without the servant having any expectation or wait for it, so that while the servant is busy with repentance and seeking forgiveness, the manifest opening comes to him.

“Both Ways are correct, but the Way of Shukr is more correct and more sincere. Both Ways are agreed upon the necessity for spiritual exercises and strivings, but in the first it is a striving of the hearts, by upholding the attachment between him and Allah Most High, and stationing the heart constantly at His Door, and fleeing to Allah in both states of motion and stillness, and striving to stay away from any periods of heedlessness (ghaflah) between moments of wakeful presence (hudur)… in a word, it consists of firm attachment of the heart to Allah and perpetuity in that state, even if outwardly one does not find (in them) great acts of worship. This is why you would find such a person fasting sometimes and feasting other times, sleeping sometimes and staying awake other times, sleeping with their spouses, and performing other duties of the religion which would appear in contradistinction with a way of life of bodily and physical Riyadah.

“As for the second way, the move (Hijrah) is towards spiritual openings and levels. Then after the Opening, some of them remain stuck in their primary intention, so that his heart becomes attached to the things he witnesses, and he becomes happy and content with the unveilings and walking on water and moving long distances in short periods of time (lit: “folding up of distance”), and he sees that this is the ultimate goal. These are the people whose hearts are emptied of Allah from the beginning of their affair till its end, among “those who are the greatest of losers in their acts, whose strivings are misguided in this life, while they imagine that they perform excellently” (Qur’an 18:103-04).

“But others (among this second way) change their intentions after the Opening, and Allah has mercy on them and takes them by the hand, so that their hearts become attached to Allah, and turn away from anything else. And this state which occurs with them is the beginning state for those in the first Way (of Shukr) - so look at the great separation existing between the two!

“So in summary, the traveling in the first Way is a traveling of hearts, and in the second Way is a traveling of bodies, and the intention in the first Way is pure, and in the second is mixed and impure, and the Opening in the first is of-a-sudden and unexpected, and in the second is obtained through secondary means and efforts, and this is how the two Ways are divided. Also, in the first Path, the Opening (Fath) is only obtained by the believer (mu’min) knower (‘arif) beloved (habib) close one (qarib), in distinction with the second Path, in which one hears of certain monks and rabbis undertaking physical acts of spiritual striving through which they attain to some degrees and ranks. In all of this we speak of physical and spiritual acts of striving and exertion in an absolute sense, regardless if they come from someone on the Path of truth or falsehood, and we are not referring specifically to the Riyadah of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (may Allah be pleased with him), for he is a true leader and a real saint.

“as for your asking whether both ways can be taken by one person at the same time, then yes it is possible, for there is no contradiction in having one’s heart attached to Allah Most High in all moments, and undertaking outward acts of Mujahadah and Riyadah (e.g., fasting, praying at night, etc…), and Allah knows best.”

[1]

It is on these principles of the Shadhili path that the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa is based. Shaykh AbdulGhani Saleh al-Jaafari, current head of the Jaafari branch of the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya (the Jaafariyya Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa) states:

This tariq's foundation was laid by my master Abul Hassan al-Shadhili, and its base was established by my master Ahmad ibn Idris, and its building was constructed and its pillars raised by my master the Imam Saleh al-Jaafari, may God be pleased with them all. ...

And so that everyone knows this historical fact, the Shadhili school of Sufism was spread and promoted by master Ahmad ibn Idris and then my master the shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari erected its pillars and completed its building.

Therefore the Jaafari tariqa is the Jaafari Idrisi Shadhili Sufi school. [2]

In fact, shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris wrote a treatise called "The Treasures of the Radiant Jewels in The Principles of the Shadhiliyya Order", which he introduces by saying,

"I beheld in the Shadhiliyya Order matters of exalted import which surpass the bounds of compilation as regards their glory and beneficience, yet the order does possess (a fixed number of) principles upon which it is founded." The purpose of the treatise is to gather these principles together.

Then Ahmad ibn Idris mentions that he has taken this order "from many shaykhs" but lists only the last one he took from his shaykh al-Tazi, saying afterwords:

"About this chain, al-Mursi has said, 'This, our path, has been validated from Pole to Pole, all the way back to the Prophet (pbuh), thus it is known as the "Path of the Poles" ' ".

In the sixth principle, Ibn Idris describes how the Prophet and Khidr came to him and gave him the litanies of his own order, the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya. However before the Prophet (pbuh) asked Khidr to instruct Ibn Idris in the litanies, he first "ordered al-Khidr to implant in me the dhikrs of the above-mentioned Shadhiliyya order, and he implanted them in me in the Prophet's presence." [3]

This tells us that although the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya is an independent tariqa with its own litanies, it is based on the Shadhiliyya tariqa, for the Shadhiliyya litanies were implanted into shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris before he was given his own litanies.

And he who looks at Imam Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi's al-Manhal al-Rawiyy can find tens of different chains of the Shadhiliyya tariqa that he took, including its many branches such as the Nasiriyya, the Ghaziyya, the Rashidiyya, the Zarruqiyya, the Rashidiyya Zarruqiyya, the Bakriyya Zarruqiyya, the Arousiyya, and the Jazuliyya- all branches of the Shadhili tariqa that al-Sanusi was initiated into, most of them through his master Ahmad ibn Idris.

Regarding the last branch of the Shadhiliyya mentioned above, the Jazuliyya, it has its own history with the concept of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya. As we have mentioned elsewhere, the tasliya on the Prophet is one of the cornerstones of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements, and the Imam al-Jazuli (d. 1465) is the author of Dala'il al-Khayrat, the "the best known and most widely disseminated book of prayers on the Prophet Muhammad."[4] The third major shaykh of this tariqa, the Moroccan Abdallah al-Ghazwani (d. 1529), used the term al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya to describe something very similar to the later Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements.[5]

A final connection between the Shadhiliyya order and the concept of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya is the idea of seeing the Prophet while awake and being instructed by him instead of by any other human figure. These concepts were present in the Shadhili tariqa since its inception: on the former, we can quote al-Shadhili's successor al-Mursi who said, "If the Prophet (pbuh) was veiled from my eyes as long as the blink of an eye, I would not consider myself as one of the Muslims". As for the latter, al-Shadhili's companion Makin al-Din al-Asmar is quoted as saying, "I was not reared (spiritually) except by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh)".

Thus we can see the close relationship between the Shadhili tariqa and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya, and in particular the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa and its branches.

----------

A special thanks goes to Ibrahim Hakim al-Shaghouri for allowing me to use his translation of al-Dabbagh's words. Jazakallah khairan.

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1.Ahmad ibn al-Mubarak, al-Ibriz min Kalam Sidi Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh. Translated by Ibrahim Hakim al-Shaghouri on http://yaqutalarsh.wordpress.com/ with minor changes.
2. Saleh al-Jaafari, al-Ilham al-Nafi' li Kulli Qasid, Daar Jawami' al-Kalim, pg 4-5.
3. Bernd Radtke, R.S. O’Fahey and John O’Kane, "Two Sufi Treatises of Ahmad Ibn Idris", Oriens, xxxv, 1995.
4. Vincent J. Cornell, from his introduction to The Path of Muhammad, translated by shaykh Tosun Bayrak.
5. To read about al-Ghazwani's idea of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya see Vincent Cornell, Realm of the Saint, Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998).

Mewlid!

2007-03-29T23:54:00.000+02:00

This Saturday the 31st of March, it will be the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal, the day that Muslims celebrate the birth of God's Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him as many times as people have celebrated his message! The celebration is called the Mewlid, from the arabic word for birth.

There are those who have no proper understanding of the Sunna that argue that celebrating the Prophet's birthday is an innovation. Is it wrong to celebrate the coming of the best of mankind, the bearer of God's Final Message to humanity? Are we not really celebrating the Message itself?

Anyway, these people read the Qur'an and read the Hadith but they don't understand it. If they truly understood it they would see that the Prophet (pbuh) celebrated his birthday every single week, let alone every year!

For we know that the Prophet (pbuh) enjoined Muslims to fast every Monday and Thursday. The sayyida Aisha said, "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to observe fast on Mondays and Thursdays." [Reported by Tirmidhi]

When asked why he, peace be upon him, fasted and enjoined others to fast on Monday he said it is because that is the day he was born:

"The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was asked about fasting on Mondays. He said, 'That is the day on which I was born and the day on which I received Revelation.' " [Reported in Sahih Muslim].

We are also told in Sahih Bukhari that when the Prophet was born (and it happened to be on a Monday) the Prophet's uncle Abu Lahab was so pleased at the birth of his nephew that he freed the slave-girl Thuwaiba when she brought him the news. Because of this, his punishment in the grave (for later becoming an enemy of the Prophet and of Islam) is reduced every Monday.

Based on this hadith in Bukhari, the scholar Shams al-Din al-Dimashqi wrote,

If an unbeliever, condemned by the Quran to eternal pain,
Can be relieved every Monday through his joy at Ahmad,
Then what must a true servant of God hope to gain,
When with the truth of Tawhid he felt joy at Ahmad?

Don't forget to do extra salawaat on the Prophet on that day! Happy Mewlid!

Update

2007-03-18T02:15:00.000+02:00

I had earlier planned on writing one post called "From Fes to Medina: The Tariqa Muhammadiyya in the late 17th century " (also early 18th but no need to write that too). But then I decided to split them by writing about each on its own, and so I have just written about al-Qushashi (the Medina part) and will later write about al-Dabbagh (the Fes part), inshalla. But I decided to keep them both under the same name in the "Tariqa Muhammadiyya Series" links on the right, so if you click on the "Medina" part of the sentence you will get the latest post, and inshalla when I write the next one I will link it to it in the "Fes" word of the sentence.

I also wrote this last one at one in the morning because I wasnt able to sleep, so please forgive me if it is poorly written. Finally, I wanted to translate another paragraph of al-Ujaymi as quoted by Sanusi, to end the article with it, but it seems the words in it are so hard even my dictionary doesnt have them! So I'll try to do that later inshalla.

Safiyy al-Din al-Qushashi

2007-03-18T00:07:00.000+02:00

We have been tracing the roots of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements of the 19th century in history, from the time of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), and have arrived at Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani/al-Sha'rawi (d. 1565). As we said before, our next stop was Ahmad Muhammad al-Dajani, who had taken many Sufi paths through the line of Sha'rani, there being only two people between them. But since one of the main features of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya is waking vision of the Prophet (pbuh), we will start our story a little earlier.

At around the beginning of the 16th century, a Sufi shaykh by the name of Ahmad left the Jerusalem suburb of al-Dajaniya (later known al-Jaaniya) and moved to Jerusalem, after which he received the appelation al-Dajani, which would henceforth become the surname of his descendants. This Ahmad al-Dajani was considered to be the "Pole of the Gnostics" and the "Paragon of the Mystics" of his time, and was known as Shihabuddin. Shihabuddin Ahmad would receive instruction from the Circassian shaykh Muhammad Ibn Arraq of Damscus, as well as Ibn Arraq's own shaykh Ali ibn Maymun. These two were Hanbali sufis who revived and propogated the thought of Ibn Arabi in Syria and Turkey in the sixteenth century, and as the greatest defenders of Ibn Arabi in their time, we will see some parallels between them and between al-Qushashi and Ibn Idris. Furthermore, Ibn Maymun's tariqa, the Khawatiriyya (aka the Arraqiyya), would be one of the Sufi paths that al-Sanusi took and considered to be very important and discussed in his book al-Salsabeel al-Muin. Thus we see many connections already to the later Tariqa Muhammadiyya figures.

Now Shihabuddin Ahmad al-Dajani saw in a waking vision the spirit of God's Messenger David, who said to him, "Save me oh Ahmad, for my rescue will be at your hands." What God's Messenger, peace be upon him, meant by that is that his tomb at Mt. Zion was in the hand of Christian monks. So Ahmad al-Dajani worked hard toward getting control of David's Tomb[1]. As we know from Ottoman court records, the Ottoman sultan Sulayman the Magnificent expelled all the Christians from Mt Zion in the mid-16th century and gave Mt. Zion as a waqf (religious endownment) to shaykh Ahmad al-Dajani and his followers and descendants, and put the Tomb of David under his care[2].

Another important famous vision that happened to Shihabuddin was when he was in his khalwa and the Messenger of God, Muhammad (pbuh), appeared to him in the waking state and told him to learn Arabic grammar, giving him some basics. Later, Shihabuddin would become an expert in the subject.

Now one of Shihabuddin's many sons, Yunis, moved to Medina, where his grandson Ahmad was raised and grew up. Ahmad Muhammad Yunis al-Dajani (d. 1661) would grow up to become (arguably) the most famous and important scholar in the Hijaz at his time, and would be known as Safiyy al-Din al-Qushashi. He was mufti of both the Maliki and Shafi'i madhaahib in Medina, and the shaykh of the Naqshbandi Tariqa. As a Sufi, he and his student al-Kurani would become pivotal links between the Sufism of India, Southeast Asia, and Arabia. Furthermore, the two of them became the greatest authorities on, and defenders of, Ibn Arabi in their time. When controversies related to Ibn Arabi arose, whether in India or Morocco, a letter would be sent to them for clarification. This reminds us of Ali ibn Maymun, shaykh of Shihabuddin Ahmad al-Dajani's tariqa, and reminds us of Ahmad ibn Idris, who defended Ibn Arabi in open debate with the Wahhabi scholars of Asir. As for the khirqa, or Sufi cloak of initiation, in the path of Ibn Arabi, he inherited it from the line of al-Sha'rani, with two people in between.

We also see from al-Sanusi's writings that al-Qushashi was initiated into the Hatimiyya Tariqa (the way of Ibn Arabi) through a chain that goes back to his great grandfather Shihabuddin Ahmad. Al-Sanusi says,

And I relate this tariqa with the (same) chain to Abu al-Baqaa al-Makki who said, "And this tariqa came to our shaykh (Safiyy al-Qushashi) from his father shaykh Muhammad and to him from his father shaykh Yunus knows as Abdul Nabi, and to him from his father the shaykh of his time, my master the shaykh of noble lineage Ahmad ibn Ali al-Dajani and to him from his shaykh the shaykh Muhammad bin Arraq and to him from the great gnosic shaykh Abil Fadl Muhammad bin Muhammad known as al-Imam...[and it goes on until it reaches] Muhyiddin bin Ali bin al-Arabi al-Hatimi [and then it goes on to two more people above him]."[11]

But the one thing that al-Qushashi was most famous for, and the thing that is always written in all biographical mentions of him, is that he learned the entire Qur'an at the hands of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) both in sleep and while awake. Of course he had by then memorized the Qur'an, but "high" chains of Qur'anic recital are very highly prized, whether for their shortness (in the number of people in it going back to the Prophet), or for the fame of certain scholars in it. And so the Meccan scholar al-Ujaymi could write with pride that he was honored to have recited the Qur'an at the hands of al-Qushashi, who had recited the Qur'an at the hands of the Prophet. This, of course, reminds us of the founder of one of the Muhammadan Ways, Ahmad al-Tijani, who had also taken the Qur'an from the Prophet, and who had given it with this "high" chain to al-Sanusi.

This brings us to another thing shared between al-Qushashi and al-Tijani, and others in the history of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya. Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. 912) was probably the first to write about what he called the Seal, or Khatam, of the Awliya. In his writings, he spoke of a great Sufi who will come much later in time, and who will be the Seal of Wilaya. Yet, while definitly speaking of someone who will come later, al-Hakim seemed to be hinting that he himself had reached that level. So is he then speaking of a spiritual level, or of a person? It is likely that he meant both. Being a seal does not necessarily mean, as in the case of Prophethood, being the last. Instead the word "seal" means a different thing for wilaya, as Ibn Arabi explains:

The Seal is not called the Seal because of the moment in which he appears, but because he is the one who most completely realises the station of direct vision (maqaam al-'iyaan). [7]

Ibn Arabi claimed to be the Seal of Muhammadan Wilaya, the one fortold by al-Tirmidhi, and the Seal for all times. Yet Sitt Ajam, the woman who became his spiritual successor, and claimed to have understood him more than any of his direct, or living, students, also claimed to have been a khatm[8]. In her understanding then, being a khatm is probably a spiritual station. This is what al-Qushashi wrote on the margins of one of the books in his library: He said that the Khatmiyya is a spiritual station that has always existed and that there will always be one person who has reached this station in every age, until the end of times. He himself, says al-Qushashi, had reached this station and become the khatm.

Two other main figures in the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements will claim this station: Ahmad al-Tijani and al-Mirghani. Both of them called themselves the Khatm, and al-Mirghani's tariqa became known as the Khatmiyya. And interestingly enough, while Ahmad ibn Idris never seems to have claimed such a thing for himself, his successor al-Sanusi referred to him in a letter to a disciple as "The last of the great gnostic poles" (khaatimat al-'aarifeen al-aqtaab al-idhaam)[3]. The word used in this instance, khaatima, is of the same arabic root for khatm and means "end", "final", "closing", "conclusion", or "finale". So perhaps al-Sanusi is saying that Ibn Idris would be the last gnostic pole of a certain caliber, and that there will be ones after him but not of the same caliber of greatness; and if this is what he meant then this is different than calling him a khatm.

Finally, al-Qushashi seems to have been the common "ancestor" of all the future Muhammadan Ways. For example, we see that Abd al-Karim al-Samman, founder of the first Tariqa Muhammadiyya (later known as the Sammaniyya), has chains that go back to al-Qushashi[4]. By default, this would be the same for Ahmad al-Tijani's Tariqa Muhammadiyya (later known as the Tijaniyya), because it branched off from the Sammaniyya. Al-Qushashi's successor Ibrahim al-Kurani wrote a book called Ithaaf al-Dhaki at the request of his Indonesian disciples, and this work was quoted in al-Hajj Umar's Rimaah, the most important book of the Tijaniyya order and one of the major Sufi texts of West Africa[5].

As for al-Qushashi's other main student, Abul Baqaa al-Ujaymi, he was the link to Ahmad ibn Idris and al-Sanusi, though al-Sanusi seems to have some chains that go back to al-Qushashi through al-Kurani as well. It seems that al-Ujaymi gave initiation to Ahmad ibn Idris' shaykh al-Tazi. And as for al-Sanusi, that was not the only chain of his that went back to al-Ujaymi: he had tens of them. Al-Sanusi has many chains going back to al-Qushashi, though many different people, which is no surprise considering the importance of al-Qushashi and his disciples. But most of his chains go back to al-Ujaymi in one way or another, and he even quotes him extensively, copying almost an entire book of his and placing it in his book Al-Salsabeel al-Mu'in! And he often quoted al-Ujaymi's definition of the Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya, which includes the following:

The Meccan scholar, Abu 'l-Baqa' al-Ujaymi said: The basis of this path [the tariqa Muhammadiyya] is that the inner being of the one who follows it is absorbed in the vision of [the Prophet's] dhat (his body, made up of light), peace be upon him, while he is zealously imitating the Prophet outwardly in word and deed, busying his tongue with the tasliya [invoking blessings upon him], and devoting himself to him at all times, whether in seclusion or in public, until honoring the Prophet comes to dominate his heart and to permeate his inner being to such an extent that he need only hear the Prophet's name and he starts trembling, his heart is overwhelmed beholding him and the visible appearances of the Prophet emerge before his inner sight. Then God will bestow upon him His clemency, outwardly and inwardly. Thereafter, he will see a vision of the Prophet in many of his dreams while asleep as a first step; secondly he will see him unexpectedly while dozing off. Finally, he will see him awake. [6]

Al-Sanusi even calls al-Ujaymi shaykh mashayikhna, or the shaykh of our shaykhs. When discussing the Tariqa Muhammadiyya and all his chains for that tariqa, he lists more than one going back to al-Ujaymi, including the following:

- Al-Sanusi took the Tariqa Muhammadiyya from al-Badr al-Mustaghanmi from al-Sindi[9] from Abd al-Qadir al-Siddiqi al-Makki from al-Ujaymi.

- Al-Sanusi from al-Jamal al-Ujaymi (al-Ujaymi's grandson) from al-Murtada al-Zabidi from Abi al-Tayyib al-Fasi al-Madani from al-Ujyami.

- Al-Sanusi from each of al-Jamal, al-Attar, and al-Jamal al-Ujaymi, from al-Fattani from al-Ujaymi from al-Qushashi from al-Shinnawi from Abd al-Wahhabi bin Abd al-Quddus from al-Khawwas.

- Al-Sanusi from each of al-Jamal, al-Attar, and al-Jamal al-Ujaymi, from al-Fattani from al-Ujaymi from al-Qushashi from al-Shinnawi from al-Shaarani from al-Khawwas from al-Matbooli.[10]

-----------
1. Al-Nabahani. Jaami' Karaamaat al-Awliyaa'. On Ahmad al-Dajani.
2. Layish, Aharon. " Waqfs' and Sufi Monasteries in the Ottoman Policy
of Colonization". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London, Vol. 50, No. 1. (1987), pp. 69.

And U. Heid, Ottoman Documents on Palestine, 1552-1615, Oxford 1960, 149,
no. 97.

3. Saleh al-Jaafari. A'taar Azhaar Aghsaan Hadheerat al-Taqdis. Cairo: Dar Jawami' al-Kalim, pg 107.

4. "Glimpses into Early Wahhabi Thought" (http://riyada.blogspot.com/2006/09/glimpses-into-early-wahhabi-thought.html).

5. Martin van Bruinessen. "Kurdish `Ulama and their Indonesian Disciples". (http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Kurdish_ulama_Indonesia.htm)

6. Combination of translations from Radtke, "Ibriziana: Themes and Sources of a Seminal Sufi Work", and R.S. O'Fahey, Enigmatic Saint: Ahmad ibn Idris and the Idrisi Tradition.

7. Stephen Hirtenstein, The Unlimited Mercifier: The spiritual life and thought of Ibn Arab, pg 139.

8. Based on the yet unpublished Master's thesis of Fatima al-Zahra' Langhi.

9. Muhammad Hayya al-Sindi, the main teacher of, and source of influence on, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. See http://riyada.blogspot.com/2006/09/glimpses-into-early-wahhabi-thought.html

10. Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi, al-Manhal al-Rawiyy al-Rai'q, al-Majmu'a al-Mukhtara, Manchester: 1990, pg 50.

11. Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi, Al-Salsabeel al-Muin, al-Majmu'a al-Mukhtara, Manchester: 1990, pg 46.

Theoretical Diet

2007-03-14T00:35:00.000+02:00

Well, living in Egypt as a vegetarian, and having to eat lots of rice, made me fat. But lately ive been cutting back on rice and eating very little (not really my choice, but due to circumstances) and so I've been eating a small breakfast, if any, and then not eating anything until late at night. And what I noticed is that I have lost a lot of weight, am looking leaner, and there is no noticeable muscle loss. In fact, when you're thinner, your muscles look bigger because there is more definition, even though you just lost fat and even maybe some muscle. So, this got me thinking about the period when I did the Warrior Diet. But with that diet I got too thin and I couldn't put on any muscle. And I started looking a bit pale. So I decided to tinker around with it, and maybe create a similar diet that is based on the same principles but would allow for better health and easier muscle gain, while staying lean. I decided that I simply cannot eat too much or too many meals in hopes of getting bigger- it just doesn't feel "right" islamically speaking to stuff yourself with food.

And since Ori, the creator of the Warrior Diet, was inspired by warriors of the past like the Romans and the Arab bedouin, and since my genes go back to bedouin from the hijaz through my father, and to mountain warriors from the caucasus through my mother, I thought I'd make a diet that reflected the diets of my ancestors.

So this is very much a diet inspired by the Ramadan fast, however with more food for the sake of strength training and muscle building. But still very little food compared to normal bodybuilding diets because I'm trying to stay lean and with some muscle mass, not huge.

I could probably call it The Fast Diet because it relies on two periods of fasting (instead of one long period of fasting as in the Warrior Diet), and because I'm betting it would lead to fast weight loss.

Or I could call it The Arab Warrior Diet since its a modification of the Warrior Diet but inspired more by the Ramadan schedule and Bedouin foods (such as dairy and dates).

I'm only posting it here so that I can have it, and so that it would be easy to tinker around with it and change it as needed. But I'm not sure when I will start it and try it out (if ever).
--------------

5 am : Wake up for Fajr. Pray and recite Qur'an for a while.

6 or 7 : (Liquid) Breakfast:

choice a) One liter stirred yoghurt or kefir milk (aka Rayeb, Laban Makheed, Shaneenah) with some honey, 7 dates.

choice b) a protien powder made of both fast digesting (whey) and slow releasing (casein) proteins. Example: Milk Protein Isolate, or Whey + Micellar Casein Mix. 7 dates.

12 pm:

choice a) One ounce almonds (around 20 almonds)

choice b) 5-10 grams BCAA's

5 pm: Gym and Peri-Workout Liquid Meal (50/50 ratio of carbs to proteins). Only on workout days.

6 pm: First part of dinner: Quick-digesting protein:

Whey Protein: 20-40 grams

7 pm: Protein + Carb meal

example a) Fish, salad
example b) Hummus, falafel, brown bread
example c) Lentils

Best to stay away from rice and pasta as carb sources, as they were not part of the ancient arab diet and they're empty carbs in a sense.

9:30 pm (2.5 hrs after the main meal, and before sleep): Protein + Fat meal.

choice a) cottage cheese, olive oil, cucumbers, tomatoes
choice b) egg protein powder or milk protien isolate with olive oil.

This means there's two main fasting periods. One is during sleep, and the one during the day has some almonds or Branched Chain Amino Acids in the middle. There's one main 4-hr anabolic eating period like in the Warrior Diet, but there is also a liquid breakfast with lots of dairy as well as dates for energy and health.

Inshalla I will attempt this soon. But right now I have no whey protein, no BCAA's, no egg protein....nothing.

Be Like the Qur'an

2007-03-02T23:00:00.000+02:00

There are many dimensions to understanding the hadith of al-sayyida Aisha (r.a.), that the Prophet's ethos was the Qur'an.

For example, when we think of that hadith we might think of how the Prophet's life is a representation of how to live according to the Qur'an, and that it teaches us the spirit of the Message.

But here is another aspect: the proportion and arrangment of themes. For example, out of more than 6,000 verses, there are only 80 purely legal injunctions. The vast majority, on the other hand, are matters relating to the Afterlife, God's Unity, sincerity, and how to be good in society, etc. This tells us that focusing on these matters is most important, and these are the things we need to be oriented towards the most.

There is also a very large portion dedicated to the stories of God's messengers and prophets. This is also something that has a (potentially) very large effect on our personality and manners, and on shaping our ethos. As Shams Tabrizi explains,

"Without doubt, whenever you sit with someone and are with him, you will take on his disposition. On whom have you been gazing that tightness should have come into you? If you look at green herbs and flowers, freshness will come. The sitting companion pulls you into his own world. That is why reciting the Koran purifies the heart, for you remember the prophets and their states. The form of the prophets comes together in your spirit and becomes its sitting companion."

Well, here is yet another way to understand the hadith: Think about the arrangement of the verses. Muslims have always realized the importance in the Qur'an of the placement of words within a verse. Thus when things are mentioned together, the arrangement usually has a significance and the things that come first are more important. Well here is something else that is important: the arrangement of the verses and their themes.

Let us look for example at Sura 2. The ayaat from 220 to 237 are roughly about marriage and things related to that. But before finishing the matters of marriage, the Qur'an jumps to speaking about Prayer and the remembrance of Allah at all times, even in times of fear and danger. And then, after that, it goes back to finishing the matter at hand related to marriage and different possible scenarios. For most people, this is a very odd placement of verses: There is a verse about prayer in the middle of a section about women and marriage. What is it doing there? Is it out of place? Well, think in terms of, "And his ethos was the Qur'an".

As shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris explains,

The intervening sentence among these verses, and it is His saying Most High: "Guard strictly (the observance of) your prayers, especially the Middle Prayer; and stand before Allah in a devout (frame of mind)" approaching God Most High with your entire being and with your hearts, not standing as spectres while your hearts are occupied with other than Him, "But if you go in fear (of danger), then (say your prayers) on foot or on horseback", meaning do not be unmindful of Allah Most High and do not occupy yourselves with other than Him even when you are in a state of fear: "and when you are secure again, then remember Allah, as He has taught you what you did not know" and it is what He taught you with His Book and the Sunna of His Messenger, naught else. Then He went back to the ruling on the wives that will become widows in His saying: "In the case of those of you who are about to die and leave behind them wives,". This was done for the sake of the wisdom in placing the sentence of prayer in the middle: meaning, do not be occupied with that which is other than Us and do not spend all your time on the injunctions relating to worldly affairs, but give them their necessary due then come back to Us, so that your character (sifa) will be like the character of the Qur'an's arrangement, for We did not finish the injunction regarding the widow until We first called you unto Us, and then went back to finish it. So look at the wisdom in the arrangement. Laa ilaaha illa Allah, how eloquent is His speech, and how Wise is He, Most High and Sublime!

So try to pay more attention to the arrangement of the Qur'an, and see what it is trying to tell you about your priorities in life, and that whatever you are doing, do not let it distract you from Allah. "Ta-Ha. We have not sent down the Qur'an to you to cause you distress. But only as a reminder to him who fears". Be like the Qur'an, and return to the remembrance of Allah at all times.

Update

2007-02-28T19:36:00.000+02:00

I had translated some written works on the sons of Ahmad ibn Idris and their descendants for the brothers at the forum dedicated to Ahmad ibn Idris's tariqa:

http://www.phpbbplanet.com/ahmadiyyahidris/

and decided that I might as well post them here as well. I also placed them into the menu on the right hand corner under "Idrisid Family Branches: East, West". East stands for the Arabian Peninsula (they were in yemen before moving to mecca). and West stands for North Africa and the Sudan.

Abd al-Aali and the Western Branch of the Idrisis

2007-02-28T18:50:00.000+02:00

General Outline
The following is an excerpt from a book about the Sanusis, written by Abd al-Malik al-Libi, the student and companion of the great Mujahid, Ahmad al-Sharif al-Sanusi, the grandson of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi. Abd al-Malik accompanied his teacher when he left to Turkey and then to Medina and stayed with him until he died. Here is what he wrote, as quoted in a book by shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari:

The birth of Sidi Abd al-Aali was in 1246 AH in Sabya, and his father died when he was only seven years old, and he stayed after the death of his father for 10 years in Sabya, during which he memorized the Qur'an and some texts (mutoon).

Then when he reached the age of 17, the khalifa of his father in Mecca, mawlana al-sayyid Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi, called him to him, and so he went to him in Mecca in the year 1264 AH. [al-Sanusi] kept him with him and dedicated private lessons for him and private mashayekh from among the best of the ikhwan (brothers) until the year 1269 AH when the ustadh (al-Sanusi), may God be pleased with him, moved from the Hijaz to Burqa, one of the provinces of Libya, so he went with him and attached himself to him the attachment of the sincere murid until he benefitted from him and gained a great and plenty share of his uloom and his ma'aarif. And there became for the sayyid a great and high station among the ikhwan that no one comes near it, and the ustadh ordered him to teach lessons during his lifetime, and he himself would go and sit at his lessons with some of the ikhwan to check up on him, and he gave him ijaza in all that is fitting for him and from him in all the sciences and turuq, and made him his na'ib (deputy) and gave him ijaza in giving the awrad and in exhorting and guiding people. And like that he stayed in his company until he (al-Sanusi) died in Jaghboub in 1276 AH.

al-Sayyid Abd al-Aali stayed in Jaghboub a full year after the death of his shaykh, then from a previous authorization (idhn) and wasiyya (instructions/advice) from his father when he was alive, and with the approval of al-sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Sanusi and the elders among the ikhwan, he left from Jaghboub to Upper Egypt, calling unto God and guiding to Him and as a deputy of sayyid Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi in giving his tariqa until he reached "Zainiyya" in Upper Egypt, and there he established his famous zawiya and settled in it, and he married and had eight male sons, who became the branch of the Idrisiyya the House (Aal) of al-sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris in Upper Egypt and they are the blessed family whose light shone and whose goodness and benefits spread in these areas.

And the sons of al-sayyid Abd al-Aali are: al-sayyid Muhammad al-Sharif, al-sayyid Mustafa, al-sayyid Muhammad al-Ma'mun, al-sayyid Muhammad al-Sanusi, al-sayyid Muhammad al-Arabi, al-sayyid Muhammad Idris, al-sayyid Murtada, al-sayyid Abu al-Hasan, and al-sayyid al-Amin who died young.

Then al-sayyid Abd al-Aali died in the year 1294 AH at the age of 48 only, may God have mercy on him and be pleased with him, and make the baraka in his sons, al-saadah al-akhyar, and he was buried in the town of Dunqula [in the Sudan].

Abd al-Aali: Like Father Like Son

Fifteen days after Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi became the disciple of Ahmad ibn Idris, the teacher said to his student: "You are me and I am you", meaning that they were now one and the same. Later, Ibn Idris' son will become the discple of al-Sanusi, who would one day say to him: "You are me and I am you". And thus, the son became like the father.

Another example of how they are similar comes from this text written by shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari in his book al-Muntaqa al-Nafees:

It has reached me that seventy notebooks were filled from the tafsir of al-sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris, may God be pleased with him, of one ayah in the sura of al-Ahzab, and it is the saying of God Most High, "the Muslim men and the Muslim women", and that he kept explaining "walladhee qaddara fa hadaa" (87:03) for three days from after the Asr prayer until sunset. And when they were astonished by that he said to them: If I stayed with you as long as Noah stayed with his people I would have given you a new explanation [of this verse] every day.

And the like of that happened to his son sidi Abd al-Aali, and it is that when he came to his town of Dunqula in the north of Sudan, he used to give lessons at night and in the day time. My father the hajj Muhammad Saleh al-Jaafari told me that he used to go with my grandfather shaykh Saleh Muhammad al-Jaafari, who was Ahmadi in tariqa, to visit sidi Abd al-Aali at his home. He said everytime we went to him we found him sitting with books around him, raising one to him and putting another one down.

And I was told by knowing people from that town that the sayyid used to comment on the Qur'an in the manner of the people of the maghreb, and the person who read the ayaat to him was the famous shaykh Abdallah Klamseed al-Danqalawi, may God have mercy on him. And the sayyid was once explaining God Most High's saying: "Blessed is He Who made the constellations in the heavens and made therein a lamp and a shining moon". (25:61), and when the shaykh read it to the sayyid, the sayyid explained it. Then one of the scholars came to shaykh Klamseed and said: Tomorrow, don't recite the next ayah, but read this same ayah that the sayyid explained today so we can see if he can give us a new tafsir of it.

So when the next day came, shaykh Klamseed read the same ayah and so the sayyid explained it with a new explanation different than the first and he excelled in it greatly. And when the third day came, it was the sayyid himself who read the same ayah and then gave us a new tafsir and excelled at it wonderfully (abda'a feeha ghayat al-ibdaa'). So the shaykh Klamseed kissed his hand and started crying. So the sayyid said to him "what makes you cry, our brother shaykh Abdallah?" so he said: "Ya sidi, I cry because you came to our town when I was already old, and I used to wish that I was still a strong young man that I can receive this knowledge." So the sayyid said to him, "If I stayed with you as long as Noah stayed with his people I would have given you a new explanation [of this verse] every day."

Abd al-Aali and His Son

So wrote shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari about his teacher Muhammad al-Sharif and his father Abd al-Aaali:

This shaykh of mine has secrets, karaamaat, nafahaat, and wonderous and strange matters. His secret is hidden, yet he is famous. His zahir is batin, and his batin is zahir. He has a cutting sword, and a brilliant light. He inherited from his grandfather and his father many states, and obtained much of their barakaat.

One day he was walking behind his father in the town of Dunqula in the Sudan and the people were crowding around them, with kisses and glorification. So he thought to himself, "Will I, when I reach this age of my father, receive the same respect and honor that he is receiving now?" So his father sidi Abd al-Aali turned to him and said to him: "And more than this, oh Muhammad". And it was as he said.

Guiding His Son's Disciple
From the autobiography of shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari:

"Before coming to the Azhar, someone from our town (Dunqula) came and brought with him the first volume of al-Nawawi's commentary on Sahih Muslim. So I borrowed it from him and began studying from it. So I saw (in a dream) sidi Abd al-Aali al-Idrisi on a chair and next to him travel provisions, and I heard someone saying: "The sayyid wants to travel to Egypt, to the Azhar". So I went and greeted him and kissed his hand, so he said to me with sternness (hidda): "Knowledge is taken from the chests of men, not from books", and he repeated it. So I woke up from my sleep, and God inspired me to travel to the Azhar, and I was allowed even though it was full, and I attended the lesson of the muhaddith shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim as-Samaluti, who was teaching Nawawi's commentary on Sahih Muslim, and I heard him read the hadith: “There is no Hijra after the Conquest [of Mecca], but only Jihad and sincerity of purpose. And when you are asked to set out [in the cause of Islam] then go”.

Ibn Idris' Descendants: The Eastern Branch

2007-02-28T18:45:00.000+02:00

The following is an excerpt from a book about the Sanusis, written by Abd al-Malik al-Libi, the student and companion of the great Mujahid, Ahmad al-Sharif al-Sanusi, the grandson of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi. Abd al-Malik accompanied his teacher when he left to Turkey and then to Medina and stayed with him until he died. Here is what he wrote, as quoted in a book by shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari:
---------------

"As for the sayyid Muhammad al-Qutb, he was 36 years old when his father died, and lived after that another 52 years. And sayyid Muhammad al-Qutb left only one son, and that is sayyid Ali bin Muhammad bin Ahmad. His age at the death of his grandfather, may God be pleased with him, was only 4 years as he was born in 1250 AH. Then he lived 70 years after that, which he spent in worship of Allah and in calling to Him.

He was among the akabir of the saliheen and he is the one who established the Idrisi family in Sabya in Yemen and raised its prestige and spread the tariqa of his grandfather and revived his mention in the regions and the tribes, and he brought them together and they gathered around him and followed his call (da'wa).

And he, may God have mercy on him, had three male sons, and they are: al-sayyid Muhammad bin Ali al-Idrisi who established the Idrisi emirate in Yemen, and al-sayyid Hasan bin Ali al-Idrisi, and al-sayyid Ahmad bin Ali al-Idrisi.

As for al-sayyid Ahmad, he grew up and died before marrying and left no kids.

As for al-sayyid Muhammad, he was occupied at first in seeking knowledge in Sabya then went to Mecca to seek knowledge, then moved to the Azhar where he finished his studies and obtained a great share of sciences and excelled in them. Then he went from Egypt to Jaghboub and from there to Kafra where the imam al-sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Sanusi was staying and visited him there and stayed with him for a while and took from him. Then he went back to Upper Egypt and visited his cousins the Aal of al-sayyid Abd al-Aali al-Idrisi in Zainiyya. In the year 1323 AH, he went back to his birthplace Sabya before the death of his father (Ali bin Muhammad al-Qutb), and his return was because of an urgent call from his father and from the murids and lovers of his father and the shaykhs of the tribes. After his return he stayed with his father about one year and a half then his father, may God have mercy on him, died, and he took the place of his father in calling to God and in guidance.

The Turks (Ottomans) in Jeezan and Asir and al-Hadida were jealous (of his fame and importance) and wanted to capture him and send him to Istanbul the center of the Caliphate, but the people of Tihama all together were able to stop them from doing that, and they fought the Turks until they kicked them out of that area, and they made him their leader (amir), and with that the Idrisi Emirate was established and expanded until the mountains of "Fifa" in the area of Najran, and until al-Hadida from the direction of the coast of Yemen, and until near al-Qunfudha from the direction of the emirate of Mecca and until Asir, and the Imam of Yemen and the Amir of Mecca were bothered by the Idrisi Emirate.

And sayyid Muhammad bin Ali al-Idrisi remained in his position of leadership (fil imaara) for 14 years then died in 1341 AH. And he left behind four sons and they are the saada Ali bin Muhammad, Abd al-Wahhab bin Muhammad, Abd al-Aziz bin Muhammad, and Muhammad al-Hasan bin Muhammad.

And their eldest al-sayyid Ali took the emirate after his father and stayed in it for three years until he relinquished it to his uncle al-sayyid Hasan bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Qutb.

And sayyid Ali bin Muhammad (bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Qutb) is still alive but he is ill, may God cure him, and he has a son that he named Muhammad al-Mahdi. And sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi has progeny.

As for sayyid Abd al-Wahhab bin Muhammad, he died without any sons, only daughters. And the same with sayyid Abd al-Aziz. As for sayyid Muhammad al-Hasan bin Muhammad, he is alive and is the baraka of his brothers and has a good (salih) progeny, may God bless them.

We now return to sayyid Hasan bin Ali bin Muhammad (al-Qutb) bin Ahmad [ibn Idris], may God be pleased with him. He took the emirate after his nephew al-sayyid Ali relinquished it, and he stayed at it for seven years then the emirate faded away after matters that would take too long to explain. And al-sayyid Hasan and the entire Idrisi family in Yemen moved to Mecca and they are now living in it.

And for sayyid Hasan noble sons, they are sayyid Ahmad bin al-Hasan, sayyid Muhammad al-Sharif bin al-Hasan and sayyid Ali bin al-Hasan, and these sons have sons of their own, May God bless them.

And these are the branch of the Idirisi saada in Yemen, may God benefit [people] with them and make them a blessed tree of virtue and prosperity until the Yawm al-Deen.

More on Ibn Idris

2007-02-26T21:13:00.000+02:00

for those who are reading this blog for the sake of shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris' teachings, you should sometimes check my other blog http://nuruddinzangi.blogspot.com/

i update it very rarely these days because most of my reading is in arabic, and the point of that blog was to copy passages that are important to me to the site. But sometimes i may translate some things. Anyway, I do have some things on Ahmad ibn Idris sprinkled around in there.

The Path of Proofs and the Path of Illumination (2)

2007-02-24T09:08:00.000+02:00

[From a letter written by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi]:

For him who wants our way of proofs (tareeqatnua al-burhaaniyya), we have ordered what our teacher [Ahmad ibn Idris] has ordered all of the brothers: To stick to reading the likes of: Sahih Bukhari and the Muwatta [of Malik] and the Buloogh al-Maraam [of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani] in Hadith. And the Risaala of Ibn Abi Zayd in Fiqh. And reading the seven Sufi treatises, which are[1]: the Raa'iyya [of Abu al-Abbas Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Khalaf al-Qurashi], the Haa'iyya [of al-Ghazali?] and al-Mabaahith al-Asliyya [of Ibn al-Banna al-Sarqasti], which are purely on sulook (travelling the path); al-Fadliyya [of Khidr al-Bilani?], al-Hatimiyya [of Ibn Arabi], al-Raslaniyya [of Raslan al-Dimashqi], and al-Fusus [of Ibn Arabi] which are purely on Gnosis (irfan). And the barzakh between them is the Hikam of Ibn Ata'Allah al-Sakandari... For it is not permissable for anyone to embark upon anything without knowing God's ruling on the matter and its proof. For in the first two are more than 1600 and 1700 sahih hadiths that cover all matters, and in the Risala [of Ibn Abi Zaid] about four thousand hadiths as well, 600 of which in the wording of the Prophet and 3400 in their meaning.... As for the seven books mentioned, they are the quintessence of that which is related to the station of ihsaan and that which leads to it from the two stations that come before "Worship God as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him then He sees you." You will find your share in that according to your capabilities.

...

And stay away from those who tell you that only little religious knowledge is needed (man yuzhidukum fil ilm), and have no knowledge of what the best of the [Sufis] are like. For they are in two groups: ishraaqiyya and burhaaniyya. As for the former, their habit is that of purifying their souls from disturbances, and guiding them towards al-Haqq so that they are granted gnosis and secrets without learning or studying, in the way of: And have taqwa of Allah and Allah will teach you (Qur'an 2:282). As for the latter, their habit is the following of the commandments and the avoidance of that which is forbidden, and acquiring the four sciences that are: Knowledge of the Essence and the Attributes, Fiqh, Hadith, and the aalaat (the sciences like grammar, logic, and rhetoric that are necessary tools for the other sciences), as is shown by al-Shadhili and Zarruq, may God be pleased with them.

And the tariq of our ustadh (teacher) [Ahmad ibn Idris] may God be pleased with him combines them both. So he who wants the ishraaqiyya travels on its path, and he who wants the burhaaniyya travels upon its path, and it is the one that dominates [our teacher's] states because it is the best of the two paths, in that it was the dominant state of the Prophet peace be upon him and most of his companions.

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1. The authors of the works are not mentioned, as they are supposed to be known among the Sufis. If there is a question mark then it is because I am not aware of who wrote it and filled in the blanks based on internet searches.

The Path of Proofs and the Path of Illumination (1)

2007-02-23T23:25:00.000+02:00

From the servant of His Lord the Sublime, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi al-Khattabi al-Hasani al-Idrisi, to his brother in Allah...

May peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His Greetings and His ridwan.

My brother: What is required of us all is the iqama[1] of that for which we were created, like binding oneself to those things that make servanthood a reality (muhaqqiqaat al-uboodiyya), and the avoidance of the disastrous [actions/thoughts] that contest God's Lordship (munaazi'aat al-ruboobiyya), by filling our zahir with manners in the exact following (mutaaba'a) of the actions and sayings of His greatest servant and the most luminous of those that He chose, peace and blessings be upon him. And in the filling of our batin with the awareness/witnessing (muraaqaba) of Allah exalted be He in all our movements and stillnesses, so that we do not do or say except what we know will make Him satisfied with us, and leave all that is other than that. And we purify our religion from unnecessary disturbances and the noticing of others, so that He is before our eyes in every scene in all that is seen and witnessed, and we witness Him in that witnessing until the viewer is lost in the witnessed. You are with the worlds so long as you do not witness the Fashioner of the worlds, but if you witness Him then it is the worlds that are with you.

And the path to that is to bind oneself to obedience, and to hurry to the performance of supererogatory good deeds as done by the Prophet ('alaa sunan al-nabi wal nahj al-Mustafawiyy), as in: "My servant continues to draw nearer to Me with supererogatory acts so that I shall love him. When I love him, I shall be his hearing with which he shall hear, his sight with which he shall see, his hands with which he shall hold, and his feet with which he shall walk. And if he asks something of Me, I shall surely give it to him".

And there is no path to that path except by [either] entering the gate of religious knowledge (al-ilm al-shar'i) in hadith and tafsir and fiqh to the utmost degree upon which were the salaf and was inherited from them by those who came after them, and this is the way of the complete ones, based on evidence (burhaan) and plain sight, and this is the best of the two ways and the most complete of the two groups.

Or by entering from the gate of striving (mujaahada), and undergoing the hardships and sufferings of going against one's desires (mukhalafat al-nufoos), and the tasting of misery, and adhering to doing one's adhkaar during the night and at both ends of the day, until the lights are kindled in the heart of the dhaakir (the one remembering Allah) and his batin and zahir are enlightened by it, as in: "'Light, When it enters the heart, the breast expands for it and enlarges'. It was asked, 'And is there a sign of this, oh Messenger of Allah?', and he said, 'The shunning of the abode of illusions, attending to the abode of permanence, and preparing for death before it comes.'" And he receives learning (al-uloom) from Him, by Him, and for Him, and is no longer in need of a teacher in all that is related to Him, by way of "And have taqwa of Allah, and Allah will teach you" (Qur'an 2:282). And God never takes an unlearned man as a wali except that he teaches him. For knowledge (ilm) is not the abundance of narrations, but a light that God places in the heart of whoever He wishes.[2] And this is the way of illumination (ishraaq).

So choose for yourself which of the two paths you want for reaching God for it is a true path, and do not dare to leave both of them and attempt to travel a path other than them in negligence with those who are unmindful and are engrossed in the created worlds, absentminded. For it was said [by the Prophet]: "He who prostrated while his heart was preoccupied with something then his prostration is to what was in his heart".

And it was also said [by the Prophet]: "He who loves a thing becomes its slave. Wretched is the slave of the Dinar, wretched is the slave of the Dirham, wretched is the slave of embroidered cloak and the silk garment. May such a person perish and relapse, and if he is pierced with a thorn, may it not be removed."[3]

And in the Aphorisms [of Ibn Ata'Allah al-Sakandari]: "When you love something, you are its slave. And He does not like for you to be a slave to other than Him."

And never ask a recompense for your works either sooner or later, or see that there is any influence by you on that action, so that you become one who subscribes partners to the Creator of Power and Destiny. For sincerity has different levels: The level of sincerity for the normal people is to not seek praise or a good reputation, and the level of sincerity for the elect is to not ask for recompense or a high station, and the level of sincerity of the elect of the elect is to disavow having any ability or power, and this is the level of the complete ones among the people of Futuwwa. And above that is the level of the complete ones of the testifiers to the Unity of God (al-muwahhiddeen), for they do not see themselves in these matters of His, recognizing their shrinking in the presence of the One they witness, and their non-existence in their existence. They give everything its due as per the Muhammadan manner, by way of the inheritance of [certain states]. May God grace us with the Prophetic inheritance and the [Muhammadan] gnosis (al-irfan al-Ahmadiyy al-Mustafawiyy). He is capable of that, and is the one worthy of granting that. Wassalam

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1. The word iqama means to make something stand, like erecting something. The shaykh of al-Sanusi, Ahmad ibn Idris, explains the word in such a context thus: "And aqeemu the Salaat and give the Zakat...(Qur'an 2:110): [Allah] Exalted be He used the term aqeemu and did not say "pray", and that is because prayer is like the body and khushoo' (the submission, humility and reverence of the heart) is its soul. So if there is khushoo' and presence with al-Haqq then [the prayer] is standing (qaa'ima), for a thing does not stand unless it has a soul, and if it did not have a soul it would be lying there, thrown, with no soul to make it stand, nay it cannot even move." - Ahmad ibn Idris, al-Iqd al-Nafees.

2. "Knowledge is not the abundance of narrations but a light that God places in the heart" is a saying of Imam Malik.

3. The last part of this hadith is in arabic a short clever rhyme, and should therefore not be taken too literally. The point is to understand the general meaning while keeping in mind that the specific words were probably chosen for the rhyme.

Edited some things

2007-02-22T20:29:00.000+02:00

What I had said about ibn idris' view of dhikr gatherings was very misleading so i just edited that to make it more accurate. i'm talking about the Muhammadan Sufism and Mutaba'a post.

New Post

2007-02-15T00:18:00.000+02:00

I have written a new post on Thursday the 15th, continuing the history of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya from the late 15th till the late 16th centuries. But since I had tried beginning it earlier and had saved it as a draft, it appeared before the post on eating and spirituality entitled 5:93. So those checking the blog might have missed it because it appears under it, so I thought I would write this to let people know. There is also a link to it in the right sidebar under the tariqa muhammadiyya series. This article was supposed to be longer and discuss more people but I need to first take out the needed book from the library, so inshalla I will complete it later and discuss other figures important to the Tariqa Muhammadiyya through different lines.

Then inshalla there will be a post about Ahmad ibn Idris's criticism of the madhaahib and how that compares to the view of al-Sha'rani (mentioned in the latest post of mine). And inshalla I will also try to write a post about Hakim al-Tirmidhi's criticism of Qiyas (the main tool of ijtihad) because it's relevant.

Oh and inshalla I will post something short about the attacks of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements on smoking.

5:93

2007-02-13T21:05:00.000+02:00

"There is no blame on those who have imaan (alladheena aamanu) and do good works for what they eat, if they have taqwa and imaan and do good works, then have taqwa and imaan, then have taqwa and ihsaan; and Allah loves the people of ihsaan." (Qur'an 5:93)

This is perhaps the most curious verse I have come across. And it's hard to translate because in arabic the words for imaan, ihsaan, and taqwa are used in verb form, which you cant really do in English, so I had to settle with "having imaan", "having ihsaan", "the people of ihsaan", etc.

Anyway, here's what the teacher (ustaadh) Ahmad ibn Idris says,

"[Allah] repeated the word ittaqoo (verb form of having taqwa) three times,and aamanu three times, and said at the end: wa ahsanu (verb form of having ihsan) once. In other words, those who have imaan and do good works are not blamed for what they eat of tayyib (wholesome, pure, nutritious, safe) food, then whenever they eat, it will increase them in imaan and taqwa. And if the eating of tayyib food is with the intention of strengthening the body for obedience, it will increase you in imaan and taqwa. This [was revealed] because some of the companions [of the Prophet] forbade the eating of animal fats [for themselves] while others forbade marriage so that they could give all their time for worship. Then He, exalted be He, said: "then they have taqwa and ihsaan", so ihsaan is equal to having taqwa and imaan together. [Then he quotes the hadith of Gibreel on islaam, imaan, ihsaan]. So if ihsaan is equated to having taqwa and imaan, then he becomes a wali for God has loved him, and if God has loved him, He has become the hearing with which he hears, the seeing with which he sees, and the tongue with which he speaks, as befits His Majesty, glorified and exalted be He. ...."

In other words, while some people might think eating meats or fats is not good for spiritual purposes, if one eats with the intention of getting stronger so that one can be better at obedience to Allah (and obedeince takes many forms such as worship and work, helping others, jihad, and many things that require energy), then this will in fact increase their level of imaan and taqwa and bring them closer to becoming awliya! As the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, while there is good in both. Cherich and guard those things that benefit you, trust in Allah and seek His help."

Of course eating very little food and cutting out meats or fats can be helpful in specific times, but is not necessary at all times. For example, Ahmad ibn Idris has this to say on preparing to enter the khalwa, after outlining a certain procedure that some shaykhs have recommended for the novice as a way of reducing his food intake:

In any case, he may follow this procedure or he may simply reduce his food as much as he can. What is desirable is moderation in reducing one's food, in accordance with the words of the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, "The best of things are those in the middle". And decreasing the amount one drinks is more certain than decreasing one's food. Some have said, "Eat whatever you wish, but do not drink." And the secret of that is that to leave drinking will cause a decrease in food. This is why Abu Yazid al-Bistami said to his nafs one night when it felt too lazy to do his wird: "By God I will not give you water for a year [if you do not do the wird], which will cause you to eat less, and you will have less energy for worship."

[The preperation period before entering the khalwa] also requires avoiding the meat of all animals, whether land or sea animals, and anything that comes from them such as milk and fat, for these foods induce the carnal lusts for those who are young or those who are still strong among the elderly. Except honey, which is not avoided, for eating it cures the spiritual diseases if it is eaten with that intention, and gives one gnosis and lights, by the traces of revelation in it, as God says, "Your Lord gave revelation to the bees" (16:68).... until "Therein is a remedy for men" (16:69). Indeed the sweetness of the divine address became infiltrated into bees and has remained in their progeny who inherit it from generation to generation. They eat bitter things that become sweet in their stomach, as one observes. Thus therein is a remedy for men both physically and spiritually because its fundament is the divine address which is the Qur'an, the word of God. And the Qur'an is a remedy for what is in man's breast, and right guidance and mercy for the believers.[1]

Some of them do not avoid these foods until they begin the spiritual retreat... but [doing that in advance as preparation] is more perfect.

The eating of honey for its spiritual benefits was also recommended by al-Dabbagh, Samman, and Ibn Arabi[2]. Remember that the proper intention while eating honey (curing spiritual ailments) and food in general (increasing in strength for obedience), is key.

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1. Ahmad Ibn Idris wrote his treatise on the khalwa more than once, whenever a disciple asked for it, and it differed each time with additions or subtractions in the words or explanations. Here I have combined parts of two different version of the treatise to give a more complete version. One version that I used was translated into English in "Two Sufi Treatises of Ahmad ibn Idris" by Bernde Ratdke, R. Sean O'Fahey, and John O'Kane. Oriens, vol 35, (1996), pg 143-178.

2. Ratdke et al.

Al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya and Sha'rani's Circle

2007-02-04T18:56:00.000+02:00

At around the 19th century, four major Sufi tariqas, all connected, called themselves the Tariqa Muhammadiyya. These, under their later names, were the Sammaniyya, Tijaniyya, Muhammadiyya-Naqshbandiyya, and the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya, each of which branched off into other similar tariqas. The movement itself began more than 50 years, if not up to a century, earlier, but without the name itself. The article "The Origins of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya traced the evolution of some of the most distinctive elements that are to be found in these future tariqas, until we saw most of the elements of Ahmad Ibn Idris' tariqa in the thought of Ibn Taymiyya's friend and colleague, Ahmad al-Wasiti (d. 1311). We ended our discussion with Abd al-Karim al-Jili, who was a famous commentator on Ibn Arabi during the late 14th and early 15th century (d. 1408).

We now continue to the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, with a group of Sufis living in Egypt in the circle of the famous Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani (1493-1565), who explained and popularized the ideas of Ibn Arabi to the masses. Now it is important to note that here again, we are not talking about the Tariqa Muhammadiyya in its most complete form as it emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sha'rani and his master Ali al-Khawwas, for example, had greatly different views on the madhaahib than for example Ahmad ibn Idris and his followers. But what we see here are two important features of the Muhammadan ways: 1) Constant tasliya on the Prophet as a means to see him, peace and blessings be upon him, and 2) Turning only to the Prophet for help and not for any wali, so that one depends only on Allah and his Messenger (pbuh).

Wrote al-Sha'rani,

So work my brother on polishing the mirror of your heart from rust and dust, and on purifying yourself of all impurities, so that there is not left in you a single trait that would keep you from entering the presence of Allah exalted be He, or the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. For if you do a large amount of salaat and salaam on him, peace be upon him, then perhaps you will reach the station of witnessing him. And this is the way of shaykh Noor al-Deen al-Shooni, shaykh Ahmad al-Zawawi, shaykh Muhammad ibn Dawood al-Manzilawi, and a group of shaykhs from Yemen, for one of them does not stop praying upon the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him and doing it abundantly until he is purified of all sins and comes to meet him while awake whenever he wanted. And he to whom this meeting does not happen has not done a large amount of sending prayers and greetings upon the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him, the amount large enough for him to reach this station.

And I heard my master Ali al-Khawwas, may God have mercy on him, say: The servant does not reach perfection in the station of gnosis until he can meet with the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him whenever he wants.[1]

The above-mentioned Ahmad al-Zawawi (d. 1517) would recite the tasliya 40,000 times a day. He said to al-Sha'rani,

We recite the tasliya on behalf of the Prophet so often that he then sits with us while we are in a waking state (hattaa yaseera yujaalisunaa yaqzatan) and we keep company with him like the sahaaba did (nashabuhu). Then we question him about matters of our religion and about hadiths which are held to be weak in the opinion of our religious scholars. Subsequently we base our behaviour on his words. [2]

And as for the above-mentioned Noor al-Deen al-Shooni, he is believed to have been the first person to bring people together for the sole purpose of doing the tasliya over the Prophet. Before him, each person would have their own awrad (plural of wird) on the tasliya which they would do on their own. But al-Shooni created gatherings in which people came together to do this, and from him these gatherings spread to the Hijaz, the bilad al-Sham, Egypt, the Muslim West, and West Africa. Al-Shooni's daily wird consisted of saying the tasliya 10,000 times every morning and another 10,000 every evening, beside leading group gatherings in which they would pray over the Messenger peace be upon him for several hours. [3]

Ahmad ibn Idris used to say,

Each Prophet has an answered prayer, and each wali has with his Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, a granted request. When its time came, I asked him peace and blessings be upon him to guard my companions and grant them spiritual support from his own essence. So he said: "He who associates himself with you, I will not have anyone else be his guardian or guarantor, for I am his guardian and his guarantor."

And based on this granted request Ibn Idris would say to his followers, "We have transferred you to him who is better than us, since the assignment has been accepted. So turn to him and show your questions and needs to him." [4]

This is similar to the saying of al-Khawwas,

"All the doors of the awliya have been shut, and nothing now remains open except the door of the Messenger of God peace and blessings be upon him. So bring all your needs and problems to him, peace and blessings be upon him."

Al-Khawwas also said,

"The faqir is not completed in the door of the following of the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him until he becomes witnessed by him in every act and asks his permission in all his affairs from eating and clothing and coming and going, for he who does that has participated in companionship in the real meaning of companionship (sahaaba)."

And similar to that is the saying of al-Shadhili (d. 1258), may God be pleased with him: "The truth of following (ittibaa') is to witness he who is being followed at every word and act." [5]

Thus the goal, and method, of making the Messenger of Allah one's guide and shaykh instead of any other figure, and of following him in every act and saying, and even of requesting his permission for every act and saying, can be seen with many awliya at the time of Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani and his masters in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

We now arrive through this line at Ahmad Muhammad al-Dajani al-Qushashi (d. 1661), who took many chains of transmission that go back to al-Sha'rani, there being only two persons between them. And all the future Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements mentioned at the start of this article will be connected, in one way or another (and sometimes in multiple ways), to this Qushashi.

We end with this chain of intitation of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya as mentioned by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi:

And [I took the Tariqa Muhammadiyya] from each of my shaykh al-Jamal al-Ujaymi and al-Jamal and al-Attar from the grandfather of the first one, Abul Baqaa [al-Ujaymi] who said, "I was told of it by al-Safiyy al-Qushashi from his shaykh Ahmad ibn Ali al-Shinnawi from his uncle Abd al-Wahhab bin Abd al-Quddus from the shaykh al-Khawwas, may God be pleased with them, from the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him". I also took it with the above mentioned chain to the shaykh Ahmad ibn Ali al-Shinnawi from shaykh Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani from shaykh al-Khawwas from shaykh Ibrahim al-Matbooli and he took from the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, as mentioned by al-Sha'rani.[6]

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1. http://www.aljamaa.info/ar/detail_khabar.asp?id=4894&IdRub=22
2. Lawaqih al-anwar al-qudsiyya fi bayan al-'uhud al-muhammadiyya, Cairo 1321, 116. Taken from The Exoteric Ahmad ibn Idris, pg 17.
3. http://www.allah.com/download/ArabicDalail.doc
4. Saleh al-Jaafari. Al-Muntaqa al-Nafees, Dar Jawaami' al-Kalim, pg 86-87.
5. Ibid.
6. Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi, al-Manhal al-Rawiyy al-Rai'q, al-Majmu'a al-Mukhtara, Manchester: 1990, pg 50.

Muhammadan Sufism and Mutaaba'a

2007-02-03T01:36:00.000+02:00

Qad 'alima kullu unaasin mashrabahum: And every group knew their drinking place (Q 7:160)

One beautiful spring day, the famous 18th century Sufi master Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh, who would become one of the most important figures in the history of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya, took his student al-Lamati to a garden and told him to look at all the different kinds of flowers and plants, how there were tens or hundreds of plants that differed in size, shape, color and scent. And al-Dabbagh likened these flowers to the awliya of Allah, in that they come in many different ways and forms, as different from each other as all these plants, yet they were all awliya nonethless, all on a straight path, and all chosen by Allah.

It is true that since the beginning of Islam, Sufism has taken many different forms: the intoxicated and the sober, the ascetic and the wealthy, the pietest and the metaphyicisian, the distinguished scholar and the malamati, and so on.

And so, Sufis could sometimes live in completely opposite ways that it would be hard to tell what they had in common. There also arose the idea of the mashrab, or drinking place. Each sufi had his mashrab, or source for his way. The mashrab could mean a different style, or a different disposition, for example. There is a common belief that besides the Prophet Muhammad, every Sufi had another previous Prophet or pious figure as his mashrab. Some of the more common mashrabs are those of Jesus and Moses, as well as earlier prophets such as Idris (Enoch), or any other. Some people's mashrab might be a companion like Abu Bakr or Umar, or Uways al-Qarni, who never met the Prophet in person but was instructed by him in spirit. One modern and widely-spread tariqa in the west is the Maryamiyya, which has the way of sayyiditna Maryam as their source, or mashrab. "And every group knew their mashrab..."

In previous articles, we have taken a look at the Tariqa Muhammadiyya and its origins[1], but we have not really discussed what a Tariqa Muhammadiyya really is. In other words, what makes a Tariqa Muhammadiyya a Muhammedan way, besides the name.

There are different common features of these movements, some present more than others, depending on the path. First and foremost, there is the idea of mutaaba'a. The word mutaaba'a is taken from the verb ittibaa, or following. The form mutaaba'a has been used as a distinct term in Sufism for the exact following and imitation of the Prophet Muhammad in every possible way. The second common feature is to turn to the Prophet (pbuh) for guidance, and to attempt to establish a direct relationship with the Prophet. Third is shying away from other authorities beside the Quran and the Prophet. This means a return to the Quran and Hadith and an emphasis on Ijtihad as opposed to taqlid, as well as a preference for direct instruction from the Prophet as opposed to reliance on a shaykh as intermediary between man and God. Fourth is constant praying and blessings upon the Prophet (tasliya), as a way to receive this guidance. In some of these groups, there is also preference for having only one tariqa as opposed to a multiplicity of turuq, although this is not a feature of all the Muhammadan ways.

Now we will focus on the most important aspect that is highly stressed in the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements, and that is mutaaba'a.

In Sura 3 verse 31, the Quran instructs the Messenger of Allah thus:

Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me (ittabi'ooni): Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

If we look at the Quranic commentary on this verse by al-Sulami, we find him quoting the following sayings:

"And it was said: Mahabba (Love [of Allah]), is following (ittibaa') the Messenger (pbuh) in his sayings and acts and manners, except in these things that were reserved only for him, because God has associated loving Him with his following."

"Sahl ibn abd-Allah [al-Tustari] said: The lover of Allah in truth is he whose exemplar in his spiritual states (ahwal), acts, and sayings, is the Prophet (pbuh)".

And al-Sulami himself says: "There is no arriving at the Highest Light for he who does not search for it through the Lower Light. And he who does not make the way to the Highest Light that of holding tight to the manners of the possessor of the Lower Light and his mutaaba'a, peace and blessings be upon him, has been blinded from both lights and clothed in the gown of self-deception".

From the above we can see that mutaaba'a is following the Prophet in everything from one's manners to his speech and actions to his spiritual states. Because of this, a new term has come for those who imitate the Messenger of Allah in every possible way, to distinguish them from those who possess different states than his, and that is Muhammadan Sufism. Obviously, being a Muhammadan Sufi would be of utmost importance to followers of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya, as it is supposed to be the way of the Messenger himself.

Indeed we do find this term in the Tariqa Muhammadiyya literature. To take an example from Ahmad ibn Idris, in a letter that he sent to his disciple al-Mirghani, he called him "the most perfect of Muhammadan awliya, without doubt and without falsehood, as witnessed by the Messenger of [Allah]"[3].

Among the disciples of Ahmad ibn Idris was also Ibrahim al-Rashid, who spread the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya of his teacher, but after his death his followers split off and became known as the Rashidiyya. One of al-Rashid's succesors was Muhammad al-Dandarawi, who started his own Dandarawiyya order, it thus being a "descendant" of the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya, but having taken a very different form from its "spiritual grandfather" so that it lost many of the features of the Muhammadiyya turuq. However, being a Muhammadi Sufi was of central importance to the Dandarawis, so that their chant and moto was, and still is, "Allahu Akbar, we are the Muhammadans, and to God goes all thanks!".

Let us now look at the concept of mutaba'a and Muhammadan Sufism in more detail, through the sayings of Shams al-Tabrizi (d. 1247). Now Shams is not related in any way to the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements, but since mutaaba'a and Muhammadan Sufism is the central theme of his teachings, they will give us great examples, which we will then compare to examples from the Tariqa Muhammadiyya.

When Shams Tabrizi joined the circle of Jalalludin Rumi and his students, he noticed that they had a great love for Abu Yazid al-Bistami. Now Shams considered Abu Yazid to be "one of the great ones", and whenever he mentioned "the great ones", he mentioned Abu Yazid. But at the same time, he was worried about their excessive love for him, and was worried that they would want to follow his way. This worried Shams because Abu Yazid had a different state from that of the Prophet, and thus he was not fit to be followed. Although he was a great Sufi, he was not a Muhammadan Sufi, and should therefore not be followed. This is akin to the great respect that Sufis have for majaadheeb or the Sufis who have been drawn to God but are in a state that keeps them from being aware of other people or of their own states, and thus they may never be followed as guides. In the same way, at least one Tariqa Muhammadiyya specified that its followers may not stray from the Sufism of Junayd al-Baghdadi, who represents the sober and scholarly Muhammadan Sufism. Abu Yazid, on the other hand, is one of the most famous examples of the "intoxicated" Sufis who are so intoxicated with the love of God that they do and say things that others may find questionable. Thus Shams says,

Since he was drunk, he said, 'Glory be to me!' If someone is drunk, he cannot follow Muhammad, who is on the other side of drunkenness. One cannot follow the sober in drunkenness."[4]

"They report that Abu Yazid didn't eat Persian melon. He said, 'I have not come to know how the Prophet ate persian melon.' I mean, following (mutaaba'a) has a form and a meaning. He preserved the form of the following. So why did he ruin the reality of following and the meaning of following? For Muhammad said, 'Glory be to You! We have not worshipped You as You should be worshipped!' Abu Yazid said, 'Glory be to me! How magnificent is my status!' If anyone supposes that his state was stronger than that of Muhammad, he is very stupid and ignorant."[5]

"The first words I spoke to Mawlana [Rumi] were these: 'Why didn't Abu Yazid cling to following (mutaaba'a)? Why didn't he say, 'Glory be to You! We have not worshipped You [as You should be worshipped]'? Mawlana understood these words completely and perfectly.[6]

Thus for Shams, only the Prophet should be taken as an example, and those who were different from him in state or in action should not be followed, no matter how great they are. Not only this, but Shams saw that any Sufi practice that is not found in the Sunna of the Prophet is an innovation bid'a that should not be followed. Unlike Wahhabis, he did not think that these innovations would lead one to Hell, but he still preferred staying away from them as they were not part of mutaaba'a. Thus he would say about the 40-day retreat, or khalwa,

[The forty-day seclusion] is an innovation in the religion of Muhammad (pbuh). Muhammad never sat in a forty-day seclusion. That's in the story of Moses. Read, "And when We appointed with Moses forty nights" (Qu'ran 2:5). [7]

These people who do the forty-day seclusion are followers of Moses- they have not tasted the following of Muhammad. Far from it! Rather, they do not have the following of Muhammad according to its stipulations. They have a bit of the flavor of following Moses, and they've taken that.[8]

In short, in those outward seclusions, the more they go forward, the more imagination increases and stands in front of them. But in the path of mutaaba'a, the more they go forward- reality upon reality, and self-disclosure upon self-disclosure!"[9]

Now Ahmad Ibn Idris, for example, would not have agreed with Shams on the matter of the khalwa, as he did approve of the khalwa and wrote a treatise on the way of entering it. For him, the khalwa was in fact following the way of the Prophet when he would go seclude himself in the cave. As the future reviver of the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa, shaikh Saleh al-Jaafari, would explain: The Prophet used to go into long seclusions in the cave of Hira, and this was done during the early days of Prophecy, as evidenced by the hadith of sayyida Aisha in Sahih Bukhari:

"The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food..."[10]

Since the Prophet referred to these veridical dreams as the first form of Revelation, then he was a Prophet at the time (as a nabiyy in Arabic is literally one who receives revelations), and thus what he did at the time of revelation can be imitated by Muslims.

In any case, both Ahmad ibn Idris and Saleh al-Jaafari, as well as Sanusi, made very limited use of the "external khalwa", preferring instead the "internal khalwa", which is to be among the people, yet completely cut off by them in one's heart, through constant Witnessing. Thus they would recommend certain litanies that they said produced the same effects as the khalwa but even better.

Another criticism of a Sufi practice from the Tariqa Muhammadiyya comes from Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh, the teacher of Ahmad ibn Idris' own teacher al-Tazi. Al-Dabbagh was asked about the sufi hadra in which Sufis congregated to do dhikr and moved their heads in certain ways along with the dhikr. Al-Dabbagh replied that for every practice in Islam, we must ask ourselves if it was seen and confirmed as being done by the Prophet. If not, then by any of his successors or companions. If not, then by the generation that succeeded the companions, and if not, then those who succeeded the successors. If a practice is not found among any of the righteous people of these generations, then there is no good in it. The hadra, said al-Dabbagh, was not done either by the Prophet, or any of the four Caliphs, or any Companions, or Successors, or Successors of the Successors. It was only by the 4th generation of Muslims that this practice started, when some Sufi masters, by way of kashf, or unveiling, saw Angels doing dhikr, and some angels do dhikr with their entire bodies so that they move right and left, front and back. These awliya would lose themselves in Witnessing the Real, and because of a weakness in their states their bodies would move in imitation of the movement of the angels. Their followers only saw these external movements, which are the result of weakness in the states of these great awliya, and began imitating them and adding movements and instruments and occupied themselves with such externalities, especially after the death of these awliya. This then is how the hadra came about according to al-Dabbagh, and it brings no special benefit.

As for Ahmad ibn Idris, his view was slightly different. For him, the Prophet had clearly praised the people who come together in a circle for dhikr, and "dhikr gatherings include any group of people who have assembled, either around a religious scholar (alim) who reminds them about worshipping God Most High, or to declare 'God is sublime' or 'There is no god but God' or to recite the Qur'an."[16] And since the Prophet of God has never said anything about the swaying back and forth in dhikr gatherings, or the coordinating of movements and voices, then it is certainly not forbidden, for everything about which the Quran and Sunna are silent is permissable. For how can someone be blamed or punished for doing something that no messenger has warned about? Of course, al-Dabbagh never denied their permissibility either. So while defending the dhikr gatherings and the movements involved in them Ahmad ibn Idris preffered a different type of dhikr gathering: the teaching of the Qur'an and Sunna. While he placed extreme importance on dhikr in the sense of supplications and prayers, as did the Messenger of Allah, he saw no need for Sufis to come together to do this when they can each do that in their spare time at home, if there was the option instead of meeting for the sake of sharing knowledge, which is superior.

One very famous hadith tells us that the Messenger of Allah once went to the mosque and saw two groups of people: one supplicating and praying to Allah, and another sitting together to learn the Qur'an. The Messenger (pbuh) praised both groups, saying that both are good, but that the ones "acquiring the understanding of religion and its knowledge, and are busy in teaching the ignorant, they are superior." Then he said, "Verily I have been sent as a teacher", and sat among them.[11]

Ibn Idris wanted to model himself after the Prophet in this, so that he spent all his public time teaching the Quran and Hadith. He devoted three daily sessions to teaching, and left the dhikr to be done in private at home. This was also modelled by shaikh Saleh al-Jaafari (d. 1995), in keeping with the way of Ahmad ibn Idris and the Prophet. He spent all his public hours teaching the Quran and Hadith, and set up schools that taught the Quran to hundreds, if not thousands, of students.

As for Ibn Idris' direct successor al-Sanusi, he did have his followers come together for two weekly hadras, but they consisted mostly of reciting the Quran, followed by some silent dhikr, without any movements or dancing or music.

Another form of mutaaba'a is related to miracles. The awliya of Allah are granted certain karaamaat, which is proven in the Quran and the Sunna. The Ahlul Sunna wal-Jamaa'a are in agreement that whatever has been granted as a miracle to a Prophet may be granted as a karaama to a wali, even brining the dead to life. The only major scholar to disagree with this was Ibn Taymiyya who held that the karaamaat of the awliya can not be equal to the great miracles of the Prophets such as raising the dead, for example. In any case, Shams discouraged the displaying of any miracles that produced acts not done by the Prophet,

"...we're Muhammadans. Someone wanted to fly above the Kaaba. Then he said, 'No, mutaaba'a, is better.' Praying on the roof of the Kaaba doesn't have that."[12]

In the same way, Ahmad ibn Idris discouraged paying any attention to the karamaat that God bestows upon the wali, saying that the greatest goal of the Sufi is to have perfect following of the Prophet and having the Quran as one's ethos khuluq, as with the Prophet:

As for these favours, they are as shadows that come and go. They are of no importance on the path to God Most High, except for those whose status is imperfect. For the perfect, his good fortune lies in having the Koran as his ethos (khuluquhu) as had the Messenger of God, may God bless and grant him peace. [13]

There are many more examples of mutaaba'a and we cannot go through them all, but this was just an example of this concept which is the most important tenet of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements. Now let us end this with quotes from Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi, Ibn Idris' main successor,

And know that the way of the People [the Sufis], may God be pleased with them, is the following (ittibaa') of the Prophet (pbuh) in the big and the small, and the more that one increases in following the more he increases in perfection, for full perfection according to them is the fullness of following, or else he is not one of them or is considered by them to be lacking, for all their actions are weighed by the scale of the Shari'ah so that all that is part of it they follow and all that is not part of it, they reject.[14]

[The Tariqa Muhammadiyya] is based on the mutaaba'a of the Sunna in one's sayings and spiritual states, and on occupying oneself with the salaat on the Prophet at all times.[15]

----------------------
1. http://riyada.blogspot.com/2007/01/origins-of-tariqa-muhammadiyya.html
2. Al-Sulami's tafsir of 3:31. http://www.altafsir.com
3. The Letters of Ahmad ibn Idris, pg 57.
4. Me & Rumi, pg 84.
5. Ibid, pg 82.
6. Ibid, pg 210.
7. Ibid, pg 147.
8. Ibid, pg 225.
9. Ibid, pg 88.
10. Sahih Bukhari. Vol 1, Book 1, hadith 3.
11. al-Tirmidhi.
12. Me & Rumi, pg 159.
13. O’Fahey, R.S. Enigmatic Saint, London: C. Hurst & Co., 1990. Pg 13.
14. Ahmad Sidqi al-Dajani. Al-Haraka al-Sanusiyya, pg 152.
15. Ibid, pg 142.
16. Ahmad ibn Idris. Risalat al-Radd 'alaa ahl al-ra'y.

Update

2007-02-02T02:48:00.000+02:00

I have added a section at the end of "Glimpses into Early Wahhabi Thought" that discusses the influence of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya reforms on the thought and ideas of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, showing that not only were the early wahhabis not opposed to Sufism, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's teachers and colleagues were Sufi reformers that shared many of the beliefs of the Wahhabi movement. It is more than probable that he got a lot of his teachings and the inspiration for his reforms from them. I added a link to it in the "tariqa muhammadiyya series" group of links on the sidebar to the right, calling the link "Wahhabism and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya" (especially since it already discusses Ahmad ibn Idris to a large extent).

Many of the figures mentioned briefly in this article (such as al-Qushashi and Samman) will be discussed in more detail in later articles on the tariqa muhammadiyya.

Origins of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya

2007-01-30T12:01:00.000+02:00

(Q33:56) إن الله وملائكته يصلون على النبي ، ياأيها الذين آمنوا صلوا عليه وسلموا تسليما

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a series of Sufi reform movements spread in Africa and the Hijaz that had the name of Tariqa Muhammadiyya. These movements are associated with the term neo-Sufism coined by Fazlur Rahman and accepted by later scholars, as movements that incorporated radical reforms and changes to Sufism, so that it was pretty much a "new" and different sufism. This has been questioned by later scholars and the theory of neo-sufism has now generally been rejected. These movements do not seem to break from earlier Sufism in any way; they only emphasize certain parts of Sufism more than others, and as reform movements they discouraged certain practices of popular Sufism. Here, we are interested most in one form of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya in particular, the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa of Ahmad ibn Idris. But before we come to it, we will look into the history of the concept of a "Muhammedan Way" in Sufism and of the most common features of the Muhammedan Ways that appeared in the 18th/19th centuries.

The Tariqa Muhammadiyya is a reformist concept, and as such, it aims to return to the way of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and of his companions and their successors. Most features of such a Way, therefore, originate with the Prophet himself, and there is no need to go into them in detail. We will instead focus more on the more original or unique concepts found in the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements that make them distinctive from other movements. For example, the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa of Ahmad ibn Idris and his successor Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi emphasized Ijtihad and a criticism of blind following of the madhaahib. Since this is a very important feature of the Tariqa, we will discuss its relation with the other concepts of the Tariqa, but we will focus more on such issues as waking vision of the Prophet and the methods to achieve that.

As explained in my previous article on the Waking Vision of the Prophet, the idea of Muslims seeing the Prophet Muhammad in their dreams and while awake, even after his death, goes back to authentic Hadiths. It was something reported of many companions and their successors, such as the Prophet's young cousin Ibn Abbas and the pious Umayyad caliph Umar II. Al-Suyuti and other scholars have written books on the subject, giving evidence from the Quran and Sunna and examples from the Companions, the first generations of Muslims, and of famous pious Muslims throughout the ages. The most relevant example from our pious ancestors, however, comes from the famous Hadith collector, Imam al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH/ 1066 CE). Al-Bayhaqi wrote a book called al-I'tiqad, or The Book of Doctrines According to the School of the Predecessors (al-Salaf), Which is the School of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaa'a. In this book he said,

The Prophets, upon them be peace, had their souls returned to them after they died, and they are alive with their Lord. And our Prophet (pbuh) saw a group of them and led them in prayer, and he told us, and what he says is truth, that our prayers are presented to him, and that our greetings reach him, and that God forbade the earth from eating the bodies of the Prophets. And I have written a book proving that they are alive. Oh God, let us live according to the sunna of this noble Prophet, and let us die on his millah (i.e while following his faith and creed), and bring us together with him in this life and the next, for you are capable of all things.[1]

The phrase used above by this great pious predecessor is ijma' baynana wa baynahu. The word ijma' has two meanings: 1) to bring together, as in a meeting or congregation and 2) to unite. Here, al-Bayhaqi is using this phrase to ask God to allow him to meet the Prophet in this life and in the next. Ahmad ibn Idris will use a strikingly similar prayer in his most famous prayer, the Azeemiyya prayer, which has spread far and wide in the Muslim world. The difference is that in this prayer, Ibn Idris will use the word ijma' with both its meanings in mind: allow me to meet him, and unite me with him. And while al-Bayhaqi asks to meet the Prophet in this world and in the next, Ahmad ibn Idris emphasized this world more. Thus he prays:

And join me to/with him [the Prophet], just as You joined the Ruh with the nafs[2],
Outwardly (zaahiran) and inwardly (baatinan), in wakefulness and in sleep....
In this world before the next, oh God the Great!

Seeing the Prophet awake remained a very rare thing that was rarely talked about, until Ibn Arabi mentioned it. Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 CE), is credited with having preserved Sufism by compiling and writing about all known Sufi practices, so that none of them are ever lost. One such practice that Ibn Arabi discussed was the method at which one arrives at waking vision of the Prophet: constant repetition of the tasliya, or salaat 'ala al-nabi, such as "O God bless Muhammad and his family" or any other form of it. He says,

He [the devotee] confines himself to this dhikr [the tasliya] and is patient until he [the Prophet] appears to him. I never met anyone at this rank except an old blacksmith in Ishbiliyya who was known as "God, bless Muhammad" (Allaahumma, salli 'alaa Muhammad). He was not known by any other name...He doesn't talk to anyone except out of necessity. If anyone comes asking him to make something for him from iron, he asks as pay only that the customer bless Muhammad. No man, boy, or woman came to him without blessing Muhammad until he left....Whatever is revealed to the one who does this dhikr is true and immune from error, for nothing comes to him except through the Messenger..[3]

Another aspect of Sufism that the Tariqa Muhammadiyya emphasized was fanaa' fil-Rasul, or Annihilation in the Messenger of God. For them, this was the best way to reach fanaa' in God, and Western scholars claim that this idea originated with Ibn Arabi although it is likely much older. According to Ibn Arabi, the Messenger of God was "the perfect link between God and humanity"[4]:

No matter how much the Real discloses himself to you in the mirror of your heart, your heart will only show you what is according to its own [defective] constitution...The manifestation of the Real in the mirror of Muhammad is the most Perfect, most balanced, and most beautiful manifestation, because of his mirror's particular qualities [of perfection]. When you perceive Him in the mirror of Muhammad, you will have perceieved from Him a perfection that you could not perceive by looking at your own mirror.[5]

Thus you see why the Tariqa Muhammadiyya placed such importance on attaining vision of the Messenger of God and seeing annihilation in him (pbuh) as the most perfect way to annihilation in God.

Ibn Arabi was opposed by the great reformer Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328). Ibn Taymiyya's reforms included a strong criticism of many Sufi practices and concepts, and for him terms were of great importance so he set out to replace Sufi terms with more "correct" ones. Ibn Taymiyya was not opposed to Sufism itself- he was initiated into the Qadiri tariqa and was extremely proud to have inherited the khirqa of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, with there being only two people who wore it between them. He also commented on his Sufi works and called him "the perfect gnostic" and "our shaykh"[6].

Ibn Taymiyya was also a strong critic of the madhahib, as Ibn Idris was, and as mentioned above, substituted some Sufi terms for more "correct ones". Thus Ibn Taymiyya, for example, thought that the term "Sufi" itself was not used by the Prophet or his companions, and that therefore it should be substituted by the Quranic word "faqir"[7]. Ahmad ibn Idris also substituted some common sufi terms, "preferring tariq (way) to tariqa, using the title ustaadh [teacher] rather than shaykh, and calling his followers taalibs (students) rather than murids. When he was obliged to appoint someont to represent him in Mecca, he called him not a khalifa but a wakil (agent)."[8]

Ahmad Ibn Idris' main successor, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi, wrote a book criticizing blind following of the madhahib and calling for the use of Ijtihad, called Iqaz al-Wasnan or Waking the Slumberer on Acting According to the Hadith and the Quran. What is most interesting about this work is that most of the introduction is comprised of quotes from Ibn Taymiyya, while most of the conclusion is comprised of quotes from Ibn Arabi, since both agreed on the subject of Ijtihad.

One of Ibn Taymiyya's followers and friends was a Shadhili Sufi called Ahmad Imad ad-Din al-Wasiti (1258-1311). Ibn Taymiyya called him "The Junayd of his age" and "Our shaykh, the Imam, gnostic, exemplar, and spiritual wayfarer"[9]. Al-Wasiti might have been the first to use the term tariqa Muhammadiyya. For him, the tariqa Muhammadiyya was based on attaching oneself to the ruhaniyya (incorporeal presence) of the Prophet Muhammad, rather than an attachment to a human Shaykh. Thus to him, this tariqa of attaching oneself to the Prophet's incorporeal presence was the true path, rather than his own Shadhili or Ibn Taymiyya's Qadiri or any other path that was based on attachment to another human figure. Yet at the same time, al-Wasiti "did not deny the need in other respects for a shaykh in guiding one toward [fanaa']"[10]

This was exactly the view of Ahmad Ibn Idris. For him, the living human shaykh was of utmost importance, but only for the sake of helping the taalib (student) reach the Prophet, after which the shaykh becomes obsolete, as the Prophet becomes his guide to God. Thus Ibn Idris would say to his students, "We have transferred you to [the care of] he who is better than us [i.e the Messenger of Allah]...So turn to him and show your questions and needs to him."

Al-Wasiti's tariqa Muhammadiyya remained a tariqa in the sense of "a way" or "a path", but "never became an order in an organizational sense, since al-Wasiti never opened his own zawiya, declining to give into a desire to do so that came- he feared- from his nafs (lower self)"[11]. As for Ibn Idris, he does not seem to have ever thought of making the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya into an "order", or a tariqa in an organizational sense. But that is not necessarily as a break from traditional Sufism as it is dictated by the very nature of the "way". Since it was based on direct guidance from the Prophet, there was no room for any elaborate structure or hierarchy. This was also a way in that it is based on certain types of dhikr and certain principles, which any person could follow even if they are already part of another Sufi tariqa. Thus anyone, whether a Shadhili or Naqshbandi or Qadiri, could also be initated into the Muhammadiyya Tariqa while remaining in his own order, but adding the litanies and principles of the Muhammadiyya.

Al-Wasiti also, as would the future Muhammedan ways, make the tasliya a central practice of the way:

You must have a litany (wird) of invocations...which should be read daily, and a litany of benedictions (salaat) that you send upon the Prophet, peace be upon him- doing so as if you were in his presence seeing him, loving him, and honouring his sanctity. Through this, I hope the Prophet's barakah penetrates your heart and that you be granted his love and the love of being comforted by it. This being a lamp to all goodness, God willing. [12]

Thus it is possible to say, as Dr. Sedgwick does, that "all the essential teachings of Ibn Idris in Mecca at the start of the nineteenth century, then, would have been recognizable to al-Wasiti in Damascus at the end of the thirteenth century, though al-Wasiti would have objected to Ibn Idris' inclusion in his definition of the tariqa Muhammadiyya of elements drawn from Ibn Arabi."[13]

This practice of visualization during the tasliya was given emphasis by Abd al-Karim al-Jili (1364-1408), the "promiment commentator and systematizer of [Ibn Arabi's] thought"[14]. As we have seen from Ibn Arabi, vision of the Prophet might be attained through constant tasliya over the Prophet, while al-Wasiti emphasized attaching oneself to the Prophet's incorporeal presence and reciting the tasliya "as if you were in his presence seeing him..." Al-Jili emphasized this aspect of visualization, the object of which was "for a real vision to replace a synthetic one, for the cultivated visualization of the Prophet to become the actual, waking vision of the Prophet, ru'yat al-nabi yaqzatan" [15].

Continuously call to mind his image...If you have seen him in your sleep, call that image to mind. If you have not, bless him, and in your dhikr imagine yourself with him in his life. He hears you and sees you whenever you mention him... If you cannot do this and you have visited his tomb, recall its image in your mind. Whenever you do dhikr or bless him, be as if you were standing at his tomb, in all honor and respect... If you have not visited his tomb, continue to bless him, and imagine him hearing you.[16]

Of course, this practice of visualizing the Prophet was not new, for we know from a famous hadith that the Prophet's grandson al-Hassan asked his uncle Hind for the Hilya of the Prophet (pbuh) ata'allaq bih (to attach myself to, or to hold fast to). The word Hilya means adornment or ornament or beauty- see here the great respect that al-Hassan (r.a.) is showing the Prophet, because he knows that all of his attributes and descriptions, peace be upon him, are beautiful, so he used the word Hilya. And therefore we know that al-Hassan used to hold fast to the image of the Prophet, pbuh.

Until now we have traced the origins of some of the most distinctive features of Ahmad Ibn Idris's Tariqa Muhammadiyya and other Muhammedan ways, up until the early 15th century. Next we will look at the middle period of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya from the 15th until the 18th centuries, while disucussing also the very important issue of the madhaahib, before we come to Ibn Idris himself.

-------------
1. Saleh al-Jaafari. Al-Muntaqa al-Nafees, pg 204. My (poor) translation. Added emphasis.
2. Sedgwick translates Ruh as the soul and nafs as the ego, while Radtke, O'Fahey and O'Kane translate Ruh as the spirit and nafs as the soul. All of them probably mean to translate Ruh as something coming from outside the body and the world, while the nafs as being part of the body or of this world.
3. Valeria J. Hoffman, "Annihilation in the Messenger of God: The Development of a Sufi Practice". Int. J. Middle East Stud. 31 (1999), 353.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. See for example, Muhammad Umar Memon's Ibn Taimiya's Struggle Against Popular Religion, with an Annotated Translation of his Kitab iqtida' as-sirat al-mustaqim mukhalafat ashab al-jahim, The Hague: Mouton, 1976, p. ix.; and, G. Makdisi's article "Ibn Taymiyya: A Sufi of the Qadiriya Order" in the American Journal of Arabic Studies, 1973.
7. Ibn Taymiyya. Kitab al-Furqan bayna Awliya al-Rahman wa Awliya al-Shaytan. Has been translated by Abu Rumaysah into The Decisive Criterion Between the Friends of Allah and the Friends of Shaytan (Daar us-Sunnah Publishers, 2005).
8. Mark Sedgwick. Saints and Sons: The Making and Remaking of the Rashidi Ahmadi Sufi Order, 1799-2000, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2005, 17.
9. Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Wasiti, Key to the Saintly Path. Translated by Surkheel Shareef, pg 1. PDF file.
10. Sedgwick, pg 30-31.
11. Ibid, pg 31.
12. Wasiti, pg 3.
13. Sedgwick, pg 31.
14. Hoffman, pg 352.
15. Sedgwick, pg 13.
16. Hoffman, pg 357.

Waking Vision of the Prophet

2007-01-23T23:39:00.000+02:00

AND KNOW THAT THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH IS AMONG YOU....
(Q 49:7)

1) What is Death?

On the 12th of Rabee' al-Awwal, 11 years after the Hijra, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, died. This was something that many of his followers and companions could not believe, so that Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq, may God be pleased with him, had to stand up and proclaim: "O Men, if you have been worshipping Muhammad, then know that Muhammad is dead. But if you have been worshipping God, then know that God is living and never dies."

But what does it mean for the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to have died? We know first of all that it means that his soul left his body. As for the body, we know from the saying of the Prophet that "Allah has forbidden the Earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets"[1]. We also know that Allah returned the Prophet's soul to his body in his grave, for he said, "No-one greets me except Allah has returned my soul to me so that I can return his salâm."[2] As explained by al-Suyuti and other commentators on this hadith, the meaning of radda (returned) here is that the Messenger's soul was returned to him permanently after the first person greeted him, and that he remained alive thereafter.

Thus a Muslim must believe that the Prophet's soul returned to his body and that he is alive in his grave. The Prophet told us that people are alive in their graves, and that for each person, "the grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a pit from the pits of hell." There are countless Prophetic sayings about this and we need not dwell on this, but simply quote the Messenger of God when he said, "The Prophets are alive in their graves, praying to their Lord" [3] and when he said that he saw God's Messenger Moses praying in his grave, while standing (standing is something that the physical body does, not the soul) [4].

Indeed, the Qur'an confirms to us twice that martyrs, are still alive in the spiritual world:

And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive, but you do not perceive. (Q 2: 154)

Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord. (Q 3: 169)

And if martyrs are alive after their death then the Prophets and Messengers who are higher than them in rank are surely alive as well, finding sustenance in the presence of their Lord. There can be no question about that. In fact, the Qur'an gives us proof that the life of the Messenger (pbuh) after his death is higher in honor, station, and dignity than that of the martyrs, for while the wives of martyrs can re-wed, the wives of the Messenger (pbuh) were forbidden from re-marrying after his death (Q 33:53), out of respect for the Messenger in his other life.

The Prophetic traditions also show that the Messenger of God met other Messengers and Prophets in Jerusalem on the Night of Ascension, and he led them in prayer, and later gave descriptions of their physical appearances. From this, the scholars of Islam concluded that they were all present in both soul and body.

So what does all this tell us about the death of the Prophets, and of Prophet Muhammad in particular, peace and blessings be upon them all?

As Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya said in Kitab al-Ruh, while paraphrasing al-Qurtubi:

"It has been authentically narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) that the earth does not eat the bodies of the prophets, and that he (pbuh) assembled with the prophets on the Night of Journey and Ascension in Jerusalem and in the sky, especially with our master Moses (pbuh), and he told us that no Muslim greets him except that God returns his soul to him to return the greeting and other things from which it becomes definitive knowledge that the death of the prophets, upon them be peace, is that they become hidden from us so that we do not see them though they are present and alive, and such is the state of Angels for they are alive and present but we do not see them." [5] Al Qurtubi himself has the following addition: "and none of our kind see them except those that God favoured with grace (karaama)."[6]

The great scholar and hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Haythami wrote,

"The proofs and the transmitted texts have been established as authentic in the highest degree that the Prophet (pbuh) is alive and tender... that he fasts and performs pilgrimage every year, and that he purifies himself with water which rains on him."[7] Indeed many of God's righteous servants, while performing the pilgrimage, have had their veils removed so that they saw prophets and past awliya circumbulating the Kaaba.

2) The World of the Spirit

The deaths of the Prophets, therefore, is a transition from one state to another, in which they are hidden from our view, except for those few who are granted vision of them. Whether they can be in their bodies in their graves but only with their souls outside the grave, or in their souls and bodies outside the graves, nothing is beyond God's power. The important thing to believe is that they are present and alive, in worlds that we do not see, perhaps in other dimensions.

And where are these other worlds? Do not think that these other dimensions and worlds can be completely seperate from this world of the senses, or that the veils are as barriers that divide up the universe. No, they are all connected. In the words of Hassan Eaton,

The veils exist, but they are at least semi-transparent; the greater realities still shine through- though veiled- upon the lesser ones, just as angels may appear to men but only in disguise. "Paradise is closer to you than the thong of your sandal," said the Prophet, "and the same applies to the Fire." On a certain occasoin the people saw him apparently reach out for something and then draw suddenly back. They asked him the reason for this, and he replied: "I saw Paradise, and I reached out for a bunch of its grapes. Had I taken it, you would have eaten from it for as long as the world endures. I also saw hell. No more terrible sight have I ever seen..."

The thread of Being runs through all possible states of existence, all the dimensions, as does the thread of Mercy; this is already implicit in the basic doctrine of tawhid, for the One cannot be cut up into seperate pieces, nor can the different degrees of Reality be shut off from each other by impenetrable partitions.....

Moreover, if heaven and hell are so close to us- as the Prophet said they are- then, at least in a certain sense, we already live in these dimensions, though for the most part unaware of them, and no more than a thin membrane seperates us from the Joy and from the Fire.... Even in the physical environment which surrounds us, these extraterrestrial dimensions are perceptible to those gifted with sharp sight, and Islam is certainly not alone in making this point...[8]

In the words of the shaykh al-Darqawi,

"There where the world of bodies is, there also is the world of Spirits; there where the world of corruption is, there also is the world of purity; there where is the world of the kingdom (mulk), there also is the world of kingship (malakut); in the very place where the lower worlds are, there are to be found the higher worlds and the totality of worlds." [9]

Therefore those whom God granted with sharp vision may see through the veils and see the Prophets and more...

3) O Prophet! surely We have sent you as a witness, and as a bearer of good news and as a warner, And as one inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a torch spreading light (Q 33:45-46)

Two scholars were talking one day, and one of them said, "The Prophet (pbuh) has died." The other scholar replied, "Yes, he died, but God (swt) said, "and a torch spreading light", so if you say "extinguished after death" you have kafart (said something that amounts to a rejection of the Quran or Islam in general), and if you say "not extinguished" then we both agree that he is a light-giving torch in life and after death.

Sayyidna Muhammad (pbuh), is still a prophet after his death, for the present tense in the Quranic verse "Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation." (Q 33:56) tells us that he is still a prophet now, and that he is still alive and being whelmed with blessings and prayers by God and His angels.

As a living prophet, and a light-giving torch, the Prophet's light still guides humans to the Truth, and the Prophet himself told us of one benefit that will only come to us after his death,

"My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will be related to you, and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be presented to me and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if see other than that I will ask forgiveness of him (for you)." [10]

But more than that, the Prophet can still guide people by appearing to them in their dreams or even while awake. "Whoever has seen me in a dream," said the Prophet, "has in fact seen me, for Satan does not appear in my form". [11]

Further, the Prophet (pbuh) said in a hadith reported by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, and Darimi, "He who has seen me in a dream will see me while awake, and the devil cannot appear in my form".[12]

The great scholar and hadith master al-Suyuti, considered by scholars of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamaa'a to be the mujaddid of the tenth century, wrote a book called Tanweer al-Halak fee Jawaz Ru'yat an-Nabi wal Malak, or Enlightening the Darkness on the Possibility of Seeing the Prophet and the Angels [in the Waking State].

He begins by citing the above sahih hadith and comments on the way different scholars tried to twist the meaning of this hadith or to reject its clear zahir meaning and try to explain it away. He then quotes the famous Imam Ibn Abi Jamra's commmentary on Sahih al-Bukhari in which he warned, when discussing this hadith about restricting the meaning of this verse to the life of the Prophet or to judgment day or any explanation that limits or restricts the clear and general applicability of this saying, and cautions of two dangers of denying this hadith: 1- Not believing the Prophet and 2- Not believing in the unlimited power of God, who could as easily allow for men to see the Prophet while awake as He could bring the cow or the birds or the donkey to life (as mentioned in the Qur'an).

Then Ibn Abi Jamra mentions how it is reported of many sahaba and men of the salaf and the khalaf that they saw the Prophet in the waking state after his death and asked him about things that troubled them, such as the report about Ibn Abbas who remembered this saying of the Prophet and and kept thinking about until he went to the Prophet's wife Maymoona, and asked her about it, so that she brought him the Prophet's mirror and when he looked at it he saw the Prophet there and did not see his own reflection.

Ibn Abi Jamra then divides people into those who deny the karamaat of the awliya and those who accept them. As for those who deny them, then there is no reason to argue with them for they are deniers of has been proven clearly in the Sunna. And as for those who do believe in the karamaat, then they should think of this as a karaama, for the awliya can be miraculously granted sight (bi kharq al- 'aada) of things in the Higher and Lower worlds.

Then Suyuti says that for most people who see the Prophet in their dream, they will see him (pbuh) once in their waking state for the sake of honoring the Prophet's promise, and it usually happens in the moments before their death. But for others, vision of the Prophet happens to them throughout their lives, either frequently or rarely, depening on their striving (ijtihaad) and their upholding of the Sunna.

Suyuti then gives clear undeniable sahih hadiths from Sahih Muslim and other collections that Muslims can see angels in their waking state, and then quotes many of the most famous scholars of Islam on the possibility of seeing the Prophet while awake, and gives many examples of this from the most trustworthy sources and scholars.

And most visions of the Prophet, says Suyuti, happen in the heart, and then it advances so that it becomes by sight, but not the same seeing by sight that humans are accustomed to, but it is a special state whose reality can only be understood by those who experience it.

Beside this very small book by al-Suyuti proving the possibility of seeing the Prophet and the angels while awake, there is an entire full-sized (400 pg) book by Abi al-Fadl Abd al-Qadir bin al-Husayn bin Mighaizil al-Shadhili devoted to giving proofs and examples of the awliya of Allah seeing the Messenger of God in the waking state.

In the end, know that it was known among the companions of the Prophet, and among our righteous predecessors and those who followed them, and agreed upon by the greatest scholars that seeing the Prophet while awake is possible. And those who deny this must be very careful, for they cannot deny this without either disbelieving the Messenger of Allah, or trying to twist his words in order to suit their own views, or disbelieving in the unlimited power of Allah and His grace to his faithful servants.

And know that the Messenger of Allah is among you....a torch spreading light...

----------
1. Sunan Abu Dawood, Sunan an-Nasa'i, Sunan Ibn Maja, and many other hadith collections.
2. Sunan Abu Dawood.
3. Al-Bazzar, Abu Ya'la, Bayhaqi, Ibn Asakir, al-Suyuti, and al-Albani, among others, mention this hadith as authentic.
4. Sahih Muslim, Sunan an-Nasa'i, and al-Bayhaqi.
5. Saleh al-Jaafari. Al-Muntaqa al-Nafees, pg 199-200. My (poor) translation.
6. Ibid, pg 202.
7. PROOF-TEXTS OF THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET IN HIS GRAVE
8. Gai Eaton, Islam and the Destiny of Man, pg 240-241.
9. Letters of a Sufi Master: The Shaykh ad-Darqawi, pg 41.
10. Al-Bazzar cites it with a sound (sahih) chain, and also in the Musnad of Ibn Abi Usama, it is also quoted by Qadi Iyad in his Shifa, by al-Subki, and by Ibn al-Jawzi in his Wafa of which he said he only used authentic traditions in it.
11. Sahih Muslim.
12. Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood from Abu Hurayra, and a similar hadith from Abi Qutada narrated by al-Darimi.

For further reading:

*Saleh al-Jaafari. al-Muntaqa al-Nafees.
*Jalalludin al-Suyuti. Tanweer al-Halak fee Jawaz Ru'yat al-Nabi wal-Malak
*Abi al-Fadl Abd al-Qadir bin al-Husayn bin Mighaizil al-Shadhili. Al-Kawakib al-Zaahira fee Ijtimaa' al-Awliyaa Yaqdhatan bi-Sayyid ad-Dunya wal Aakhira

Alright, that's it!

2007-01-23T09:53:00.000+02:00

I have had all the free time that i could ask for. And all the opportunities to just sit down and write some things down. And I had promised a bunch of people. But for some reason I just ever felt like it. I simply didnt feel like writing about what i promised to write about.

Well, I dont care what I feel like anymore. I'm gonna write my first post today. Inshalla!

I just gotta go have breakfast now.

salam

EDIT: I started writing it last night, and now it's almost finished....

Something I just came across

2006-12-17T19:35:00.000+02:00

(getting near to the end of the month, after which i'll be free to write here).

anyway, just came across this today (posted by a cute girl on Facebook):

An old man lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quraan.

His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Quraan just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book.

What good does reading the Quraan do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied,

"Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water." The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said,

"You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home.
Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!"
"So you think it is useless?"
The old man said, "Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Quraan. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives."

------------

it's interesting to come across this story today as just today i was studying about the great sufi al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, and he said something very similar about Hadith. But since I can't remember exactly what he said, and I cant find it at the momoment, I'm not gonna try to give an idea of what he said because that would be unfair to him.

Stay Tuned....

2006-11-26T20:22:00.000+02:00

Well, I doubt there's any readers of this blog left, since it kinda died off.. But if there's anyone out there still- just give me one more month. One more month of no blogging and them I'm coming back with a vengeance.

After Dec 23, if God has willed for me to live that long, I will start writing a lot. Here are some things I plan to do:

1- The Idrisi Series: I MUST get as much information as possible out there about my ustadh, Ahmad ibn Idris, may God bequeath to us some of his knowledge. I want to write an article about the Tariqa Muhammadiyya as practiced by his own teachers and people who went before him, then I want to talk about his own tariqa and compare it with those of other reforming sufi shaykhs of the same time, and then I want to talk about his legacy and his successors. I've always been hesitant about even attempting this because he is a giant of a man, a true heir of the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, and how do you even begin to describe someone who has inherited ever half a hair's worth of the Prophet's knowledge and character? But I feel like I have to get something out there, and inshalla I will, even if it does not do him justice.

2- The Resistance Series. In the 19th and 20th centuries, as a response to Western Imperialism, a series of legendary Sufi-led wars of resistance raged in the Caucasus, Algeria, Libya and the Sudan. I want to write something little about each movement and about how their leaders, great Sufi shaykhs, were all connected.

3- I want to talk about changes I have done in my life. Some small, some not so small. And all kinds of theories about how they affect your personalities, and what changes I have noticed in myself since doing them. But I have a feeling yall gonna think I went insane or something.

4- Translation. I have decided to stop reading english works on Islam and sufism when I can read arabic instead. I'm going to be reading as much as possible in Arabic, and as a way of improving my vocabulary in classical Arabic and improving my writing abilities I'm going to try and translate a small paragraph or section almost every day- something I like. Expect from me a translation of something (from some great texts) I read every day or so, and if you dont get it, DEMAND IT. I do need the encouragment as if no one asks me about it I'd probably stop. It's gonna be some good stuff inshalla.

5- On the training front. I'm gonna be in Jordan. I'm gonna have things that I dont have here, and foods that I dont have here. And all sorts of things I dont have here. I will be in my groove. I will be in the zone. I will start a new experiment to take my body to a whole new level. And I will keep track of it here. This is finally my chance to do something Ive been meaning to for a while now. It's something easy that everyone can do. Stay tuned for all the details on how I'm gonna rev up my metabolism and turn myself into a muscle-building, fat-burning machine.

in shaa' Allah.

Wassalam,
Silencer.

EDIT:
[just wanted to leave this note to myself to remember to write about another topic, something very controversial. well, no need to say what it is, as this note should be enough to remind me if i forget to write about it.]

Good News

2006-11-01T21:03:00.000+02:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6106398.stm

Fasting

2006-09-24T03:19:00.000+02:00

Assalamu Alaykum

Ramadan mubarak everyone!

"O People ! Indeed ahead of you is the blessed month of Allah. A month of blessing, mercy and forgiveness. A month which with Allah is the best of months. Its days, the best of days, its nights, the best of nights, and its hours, the best of hours. It is the month which invites you to be the guests of Allah and invites you to be one of those near to Him. Each breath you take glorifies him; your sleep is worship, your deeds are accepted and your supplications are answered. So, ask Allah, your Lord; to give you a sound body and an enlightened heart so you may be able to fast and recite his book, for only he is unhappy who is devoid of Allah's forgiveness during this great month." - Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.

2:183

ياأيها الذين آمنو كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم لعلكم تتقون

O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain Taqwa.

Ya Allah! Help us attain Taqwa this blessed month, and make us of those who are always in a state of Taqwa! Ya Rabb!

"Fasting is like a shield, and he who fasts has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord. " - Prophet Muhamamd (may God bless him and his family, and grant them peace)

Quran 41: 34

2006-09-22T21:48:00.000+02:00

Assalamu Alaykum,

Although I have overcome my illness a while ago after a doctor forced me to take antibiotics, I still have a lingering cough and an inability to speak more than a few sentences or recite the Quran without coughing. I dont know why this isn't going away. But thanks to Allah, my health is back to normal (and has been for a while but I haven't really felt like blogging, so I apologize for not replying to ppl's comments).

Well, before I get to 41:34, I would like to quote a group of verses from surah 41 that my cousin discussed with me today. He said he read them over his father while he was dying in the hospital, because they were read to the Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (Umar II), may God be pleased with him, while he was dying and it is reported that he was visited by the Prophet and the four Caliphs when they were read out. Yes, the Prophet (pbuh) died from the material world but is alive in the spiritual world and it is possible to see him in the waking state if the veils are removed from one's eyes.

"And say not of those who are slain in the Way of Allah, 'They are dead'. Nay, they are living, though you perceive it not". (2:154)

"There where the world of bodies is, there also is the world of Spirits; there where the world of corruption is, there also is the world of purity; there where is the world of the kingdom (mulk), there also is the world of kingship (malakut); in the very place where the lower worlds are, there are to be found the higher worlds and the totality of worlds. "

"Of necessity, he can be seen in waking state only by one whose mind- or let us say, whose thoughts- have transported him from this corporeal world into the world of Spirits; there will he see the Prophet without the slightest doubt; there he will see all his friends.

-Shaykh ad-Darqawi

The great hadith master and scholar Jalal ad-Din al-Suyuti has written a book proving this, called "Tanweer al-Halak fee Jawaaz Ru'yat an-Nabi wal-Malak".

Anyway, here are the verses (30-34) which, when heard in Arabic, simply melt the heart:

Lo! those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and afterward are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised. * We are your protecting friends in the life of the world and in the Hereafter. There ye will have all that your souls desire, and there ye will have all for which ye pray. * A gift of welcome from One Forgiving, Merciful. * And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who are muslims (surrender unto Him). * The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel [evil deeds] with that which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity will become as though he was a bosom friend.

Well, the last one, about repelling the good deed with one that is better, is the verse I want to talk about specifically. A few days ago I posted a questions on a bodybuilding forum asking if there are any Muslims around and what they will be doing for Ramadan in regards to training and nutrition. Well, I immediately got a bunch of hateful responses against Islam and myself. I didnt know how to respond, because I knew if I quoted verses from the Qur'an they wouldn't listen, and they'd find some Christian site which has a ready-made list of verses mistranslated or taken out of context to attack Islam. And I knew replying angrily was not the answer. So I decided to reply with a joke. No need to repeat all that I said, but I answered with a pretty funny joke in which I played along with them, and they found it to be hilarious and somehow they flipped. From attacking Islam, they switched to apologizing to me, telling me that what they said was uncalled for, and trying to help me out as much as possible in regards to planning the month of Ramadan for working out. The whole mood on the thread switched from a bunch of attacks to a bunch of people helping me out and wishing me a blessed Ramadan. I'm not just talking about one person here. Many people who didnt like me simply because I was Muslim and were always hating on me and anything I said on the forums were now offering to help me and acting really nice. All because I decided to act as if they were friends and reply with a funny joke. And it turned out they really are good people after all.

Subhan Allah! Repel the bad with that which is better, and he between whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend. Sadaq Allah al-Azeem.

Glimpses Into Early Wahhabi Thought

2006-09-03T16:11:00.000+03:00

Glimpses Into Early Wahhabi Thought, From Their Interactions With Other Ulama

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Intellectual Milieu

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi movement, went to Medina at a young age and studied under the hadith scholar Muhammad Hayya al-Sindi. Scholars attribute a strong influence on Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's thought by Muhammad Hayya: he encouraged him to denounce taqlid or rigid imitation of the schools of law and of medieval texts, and to practice ijtihad instead. Muhammad Hayya also taught him to reject popular religious practices related to awliya and their tombs. It is also thought that his emphasis on hadith had a strong influence on Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's rigid reforms[45]. So let us look at who this shaykh of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was, and look at who influenced him.

Muhammad Hayya al-Sindi was a Sufi of the Naqshbandi tariqa. He had four main teachers, all of whom belonged to the same school of thought that goes back to Ahmad Muhammad Dajani al-Qushashi. Al-Qushashi was a very important Sufi and scholar whose intellectual "descendants" included many famous reformers, such as Shah Waliallah al-Dahlawi, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Ahmad ibn Idris, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Samman, the last three of which were leaders of reform movements in the 18th and 19th centuries associated with the name Tariqa Muhammadiyya. Thus all four of Muhammad Hayya's main teachers were students of al-Qushashi's students, and thus all were Sufis, as was Muhammad Hayya himself. And all these scholars belonged to the same school of thought which placed a high emphasis on hadith and ijtihad and replacing the authority of other human scholars or institutions with the direct authority of the Quran and Sunna; which meant the primacy of hadiths over the madhaahib.

Now if we count all of Muhammad Hayya's teacher and the teachers of his teachers, 27 scholars in total, we see that most of them had Sufi affiliations. Now if we look at the students of Muhammad Hayya, and thus Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's colleagues, we see 12 out of 20 mentioned explicity as being Sufis, many of whom were Sufi shaykhs themselves. Among those was Muhammad al-Samman, leader of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya that his students would spread in Yemen, North Africa and the Sudan[46]. Ahmad ibn Idris, mentioned above as having close ties to the early Wahhabi leaders, was also the founder of a Tariqa Muhammadiyya movement very similar to that of al-Sammani and also going back to Ahmad Dajani al-Qushashi. Not only that, but Muhammad Hayya al-Sindi himself was initiated into the Tariqa Muhammadiyya, for Ahmad ibn Idris' student Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi lists this chain among his chains of initiation into the Tariqa Muhammadiyya:

-Al Sanusi from al-Badr al-Mustaghanmi from al-Sindi from Abd al-Qadir al-Siddiqi al-Makki from Abul Baqaa al-Ujaymi. [49]

Though Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was partly inspired by Ibn Taymiyya, it is "not at all clear that the spirit of Ibn Taymiyya was the dominant one among the Hanbalis of the eastern Arab world in the eighteenth century"[47]. It also seems that there were no Hanbalis among Muhammad Hayya's teachers, and only two of his students were Hanbali, one of whom was a Sufi.

In conclusion, it is very possible that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's ideas were inspired by the Sufi reform movements in the Naqshbandi and Khalwati traditions[48], such as the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements going back to the school of al-Qushashi. It is clear that many of his teachings against taqlid and popular Sufi practices came from his shaykh who was also a Naqshbandi Sufi heavily influenced by the school of al-Qushashi and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya.

Early Wahhabism and its Interactions with Other Schools of Thought

The main centers of learning at the time of the rise of Wahhabism were the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, which was too remote and will not be discussed, and Cairo, the major center of traditional scholarship in the Muslim world. After al-Azhar in Cairo, the second greatest center of learning in Africa was the Qarawiyyin Mosque in the maghrib, in what is now Morocco. And finally, the Yemen was a country that had always produced great scholars, and as the Messenger of Allah has said, “Faith is Yemeni, wisdom is Yemeni” (Sahih Muslim). Finally, there is Mecca, whch did not have any famous learning institutions but attracted Muslims from all over the world because of the Hajj, and was the best place to learn about different schools of thought. The aim of this short study is to look at some interactions between the Wahhabi movement and the scholars of these areas to get a glimpse of their early ideology and attitudes to other ways of thought.

Cairo at the time was the very center of fiqh and the different schools of law, or madhahib. The scholars of al-Azhar were considered the most traditional scholars, and occupied themselves with questions of fiqh. The hadith master al-Sindi “commented on the weakness of Egypt” after having visiting it, and “that he had found nobody there who knew the hadith or were concerned with it.” [1] While this is definitly an exaggeration, it does reflect the emphasis that the Cairene scholars put on taqlid, that is, following the legal judgements that had been established by earlier scholars within their school of law, and not using ijtihad to come up with new rulings based on the Quran and the Sunna. These traditional scholars were seen by the Wahhabis as their greatest enemies, and were singled out, as a class, "for special opprobium”[2] The Wahhabis rejected taqlid and the schools of law, and wanted a return to the Quran and the Sunna of the Prophet as the only authorities. The authority of the scholars was nothing to them, and it was forbidden to imitate a scholar or follow his rulings. The only rules are those in the Quran and the Sunna.

At about the same time, or even earlier, a very similar movement was taking place in Morocco. Fez, which housed the mosque-school of the Qarawiyyin, was dominated for a period of time by two reformers: Mawlay Muhammad (reigned 1757-90) and his son, Mawlay Sulayman (1792-1822). These two rulers opposed excessive reliance on second or third-hand texts in the study of law or theology. They revived the hadith studies in Fez, enjoining scholars to return to the original Hadith collections.[3] The Qur’an was to be studied alone, “according to its own interpretation”, and only a few commentaries on the hadith were allowed, and a chosen number of books on law. [4]

While the Muslim west had always been and has remained to this day primarily Maliki in fiqh, these two rulers moved the scholars of the period away from fanaticism to the Maliki school by giving interest to the three other schools of law, especially the Hanbali. Mawlay Muhammad even proclaimed that he was Maliki in fiqh and Hanbali in doctrine.[5] They forbade the study of Kalam, or theology based on philosophy and speculation, as well as the traditional Sunni theology: Asharism. They also opposed blind taqlid, but also did not accept completely free ijtihad.[6] All these reforms are strikingly similar to those of the Wahhabis yet were completely unrelated to them. Wahhabi forces were only able to control central Arabian areas from 1790-5, after Mulay Muhammad’s thirty years of reform. And their teachings had not left any impact before they conquered the area in 1803. In fact, a Maghrebi scholar in 1803 wrote that he had never heard of the Wahhabis. [7]

It is also interesting to note that while these Moroccan rulers did not oppose Sufism itself, they forbade its teaching in the mosque, allowing people to “immerse in it only in the privacy of their homes.”[8] In fact, pretty much every scholar in Morocco was to some degree a Sufi. In 1806, the Wahhabis sent a letter of exhortation to the scholars of the West, denouncing the Sufi veneration of Saints as well as divination.[9] It is interesting to note however that they did not attack Sufism itself. The Tunisian scholars responded with a unanimous rejection of the Wahhabi ideas, while the Moroccan answers varied. One scholar and historian, al-Zayyani, called them “heretics of a dispicable doctrine”[10], while the two most distinguished scholars of the Qarawiyyin had more favourable replies. Al-Tayyib ibn Kiran “agreed that it was wrong to embellish tombs or circumbulate the Prophet’s grave. This, he said, was also in accordance to the prevailing Maliki madhhab in Morocco, and he noted in favour that the Wahhabis accepted all four madhhabs.”[11] The other scholar, Hamdun b. al-Hajj, wrote a poem saying that “the Saudis had revived the unadulterated Sunna overshadowed by accretions that seemed untouched by Islam”, yet also admonished the Wahhabis’ use of violence and the killing of those of different persuasions, and reminded them of their duty to show care towards the believers. [12]

Ibn al-Hajj was “not writing as a convert to a new way of thought, but as one who already based himself on a policy of change and purification of Islam, writing to those who had recently appeared with similar ideas in a far away land; in part as an older teacher trying to restrain youthful excess”.[13] It is also important to note that both of these scholars were committed Sufis and wrote books on Sufism, and yet in their replies to the Wahhabis there does not seem to be any mention of a Wahhabi rejection of Sufism, which led some scholars to speculate that “the Wahhabi message was not seen as opposed to Sufism in general, but only to the worshipping of saints and tombs.”[14]

Another Moroccan scholar, the qadi (judge) Ibrahim al-Zaddaghi, came back from the Hijaz with a favorable view of the Wahhabis. He engaged Ibn Sa’ud in a debate concerning the Wahhabi views and was satisfied with his answers:

“it is not forbidden to visit graves, [ibn Sa’ud] insisted, but the object must be to appreciate the nature of death and remember the life of the departed, not to associate the dead with God by asking them for favours only God can bestow. The visitor can ask for pardon for the departed, and ask for his intercession with God, posing his requests only to God.” [15] Even more striking is that al-Zaddaghi was satisfied with Ibn Sa’ud’s answers concerning the nature of God and whether or not the Prophet was alive in his grave.

It seems that there was a large degree of agreement between the Wahhabi leaders and these Sufi scholars of the Maghreb, except in the matter of the Wahhabi excesses towards those who had different beliefs. And in all the letters exchanged between the two sides and the debates, there is nothing to indicate any Wahhabi rejection of Sufism itself, but only of certain practices related to Sufism, such as the visiting of the graves of the saints, a practice that had been seen unfavourably even by the Sufi scholars of the maghreb themselves.

In the earliest stage of Wahhabism, termed Revolutionary Wahhabism, “Sufis were not attacked as a class.” [16] Most of the acts that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab labelled as “greater shirk” (and greater shirk automatically makes one a non-Muslim) in his Kitab al-Tawhid were in some way related to Sufism. “Revolutionary Wahhabism, then, firmly opposed certain distinctively Sufi practices which were almost universal among the orders”[17], but not Sufism itself. Indeed, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab himself, repeats at least four times in his different letters that that he “never accused of unbelief Ibn Arabi or Ibn al-Farid for their Sufi interpretations.”[18] His son Abdallah is quoted as saying,

"My father and I don't deny or criticize the Science of Sufism, but on the contrary we support it because it cleans the external and the internal of the hidden sins which are related to the heart and the outward form. Even though the individual might externally be on the right way, internally he might be on the wrong way; and for its correction tasawwuf is necessary."[19]

We now come to a great Sufi by the name of Ahmad ibn Idris, to study his relations with the Wahhabis. Ahmad ibn Idris studied under the most famous scholars of the Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez; these scholars who taught him were the same generation of scholars who had been influenced by the reforms of the rulers Mawlay Muhammad and Mawlay Sulayman, and thus he became an expert on the Hadith and the Qur'an. One of his teachers was Ibn Kiran, one of the two most prominent scholars of the Qarawiyyin who had sent a favorable reply to the Wahhabi letter (see above). Ahmad ibn Idris began teaching against excessive veneration of the saints, and against building anything over their tombs. He wanted to remove any authority over Muslims other than God and His Messenger, so he denounced the authority of the schools of law (the madhahib), completely rejected taqlid, and even changed the role of the Sufi shaykh. While still maintaining the importance of the Sufi shaykh and the impossibility of travelling the Sufi path without one, he had his students refer to him as a "teacher" (ustadh), rather than shaykh. For him, the role of the shaykh, or rather, the teacher, was to become obsolete. The teacher helps the student establish a direct relationship with the Prophet, so that the teacher himself is not needed anymore. He also taught his students not to place an important emphasis on karaamaat, or the "miraculous gifts" bestowed upon the Sufi by God.

As for these favours, they are as shadows that come and go. They are of no importance on the path to God Most High, except for those whose status is imperfect. For the perfect, his good fortune lies in having the Koran as his ethos (khuluquhu) as had the Messenger of God, may God bless and grant him peace. [20]

For Ibn Idris, the most important thing for a Muslim was to learn how to pray properly and to keep God in mind, and it is to these two things that he dedicated his life.

Other than the rejection of the excessive veneration of the saints and the building over and visiting of tombs, Ibn Idris shared many other views with the Wahhabis. Like them, he also rejected kalaam. As mentioned above, he was anti-madhhab, but even more than the reformist scholars of Morocco at the time. Ibn Idris went further to reject taqlid completely. "However, his rejection of taqlid meant great emphasis not only on the individual Muslim's own initiative but also its concomitant, a deeper education in the understanding of his religion; hence, Ibn Idris' profound commitment to teaching and preaching." [21]

Ibn Idris left to the Hijaz, where he stayed in Mecca, and was opposed by the "establishment scholars" of Mecca for his view on the madhahib and usul al-fiqh. And while he seems to have passed by Cairo and given lessons at al-Azhar, he seems to have avoided it because it was the center of "madhhabism". When the Wahhabis were coming to conquer Mecca, most scholars wanted to flee, but Ibn Idris insisted on staying and reassured them that no harm will come to them. When Sa'ud b. Abd al-Aziz and the Wahhabi forces entered Mecca, two of the scholars of Mecca went to Sa'ud and were told that all the men of Mecca will be allowed a peace settlement, or aman, except three renegade Wahhabis, who will be killed. One of these men attached himself to Ibn Idris, and Ibn Idris went to Sa'ud and demanded pardon for that man. Ibn Sa'ud sat Ibn Idris next to him, granted pardon to the renegade Wahhabi, and according to one source, personally covered Ibn Idris with a costly robe.[22] Ibn Idris' student al-Mirghani notes that the Wahhabis were amazed at Ibn Idris' fearlessness, "Despite the fact that they denied the karaamat of the saints."[23]

Because Ibn Idris was "uncompromisingly strict in his adherence to the Sharia", the Wahhabis were content to let him live in Mecca for 10 years under their rule.[24] As was stated earlier, he refused to leave Mecca when they came, and he only left it 10 years later when the Wahhabis were defeated and kicked out of Mecca by the Egyptian forces of Muhammad Ali Pasha.[25] He seems to have been "on friendly terms with the Wahhabis," and "made the personal acquaintance of Saud b. Abd al-Aziz and the sons of Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, and had respect for them."[26] In fact, they were "united by a radical anti-madhhabism....What seperated them was the Sufi element."[27]

After leaving Mecca, Ibn Idris went to Sabya in the south, which became "a focus for the seekers" and became full of his students[28]. There, some Wahhabi scholars complained about the "reprehensible actions" of some of Ahmad Ibn Idris' students, and Ali b. al-Mujaththal, ruler of the area, arranged for a debate between Ibn Idris and his two Wahhabi accusers, Nasir al-Kubaybi and Abd Allah b. Surur al-Yami.

The debate was witnessed by many great scholars of the region, and before it began, the two Wahhabi accusers were humiliated by the scholars, who described Ibn Idris as "one of the greatest religious scholars in all the Islamic lands," unrivaled in "his knowledge of the legal sciences and the sciences of higher reality". A scholar to whom the greatest scholars of the lands of Islam lowered their heads in respect and submitted to him; "then who are Nasir al-Kubaybi and Abd Allah b. Surur al-Yami whose relation to Ibn Idris is like the relation of schoolboys to brilliant scholars...?"[29]

Another scholar compared Ibn Idris' status among the descendants of the Prophet as equal to that of Jaafar al-Sadiq and Muhammad al-Baqir, who honored the accusers' lands by coming to them, while a third scholar asked permission to test the Wahhabi accusers in simple external aspects of the legal sciences like ritual purity and the times of prayer, and only if they were able to answer him could they be deemed scholars and have the right to question Ibn Idris, "who is an inexhaustible sea."[30]

The debate itself highlights how different were the views of these young Wahhabi scholars from the original beliefs of the founders of the movement. When al-Kubaybi said that Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was the restorer of Islam, Ibn Idris' reply was similar to that of the above-mentioned Moroccan scholar Hamdun b. al-Hajj who had welcomed the Wahhabi eradication of accretions to Islam yet denounced their killing of those who held different beliefs:

We do not deny his virtue and his noble intentions in what he undertook. Indeed, he eliminated reprehensible innovations and new practices. But he spoiled his missionary activity by exceeding the proper bounds: he declared Muslims who believe in God Most High to be infidels and allowed their blood to be shed and their property to be confiscated without any legal proof. [31]

Then Ibn Idris goes on to criticize the Wahhabis for imitating Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and accepting all his mistakes, thus committing the wrongful practice of taqlid that he himself so vehemently denounced, and then spoke of the huge gap in knowledge between Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and these young scholars who imitate him.

He was one religious scholar among others, and no one enjoys infallibility but the prophets. At times he was mistaken and at times he was right.... His mistakes are pardonable, but following him as an authority in his mistakes is not permitted. For that is what God Most High assigned to him in accordance with the extent of his knowledge, whereas you, because of your ignorance, are cut off from adopting his proof and from awareness of the highroad he proceeded along. [32]

The difference between the beliefs of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and his followers is further highlited in the next passage of the debate when al-Kubaybi said that "The greatest idolatry (al shirk al-akbar) had spread over all the lands, and all the people had forsaken the faith of Islam in the east and in the west, in the south and in the north. If Shaykh Muhammad had not renewed Islam, the people would be lost in the darkness of unbelief!" [33]

Ibn Idris replied,

God Most High protect us from such a thought! That was not at all what Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab believed! You are a young man, whereas I met Sa'ud b. Abd al-Aziz in Mecca as well as the religious scholars of his entourage, the offspring of Shaykh Muhammad b. Abdl a-Wahhab: Abd Allah b. Muhammad and his brother Husayn, and Sulayman [Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's grandson]. They are religious scholars who understand what a proof is and they adhere to the requisites of a clear procedure. However, their belief is not what you believe in, and they are free from what you attribute to them. [34]

After this, al-Kubaybi presented his accusations against Ibn Idris and his followers, and Ibn Idris "was to dispose of them in a dazzling display of arguments, not to say casuistry, that totally flattened his opponents". [35] The day after the debate, the Wahhabi leader of the area who had arranged for the debate, Ibn Mujaththal, requested a private meeting with Ibn Idris in which he "apologized profusely, claiming that he had been misled by his ulama" [36].

As you can see from the debate, it is clear that there was a difference between the original teachings of the founders of Wahhabism and their younger followers who had different beliefs from those of the founders[37]. While Ibn Idris had a favourable view of the former, he had a negative view of the latter. Even his main student, al-Sanusi, was thought by one Western scholar to have been a "closet Wahhabi". This highlights how similar the views were between these Sufi scholars of the Western Islamic lands and the founders of the Wahhabi movement.

Another important scholar to mention was Muhammad b. Ali al-Shawkani, the greatest religious scholar of the Yemen at the time. Al-Shawkani went even further than Ibn Idris and the Wahhabis in his position on ijtihad, holding that no special qualifications are required for practicing ijtihad, and that "anyone with a modicum of knowledge and understanding is capable of doing so. Moreover, taqlid is absolutely forbidden." [38]

Al-Shawkani, other than being respected as one of the greatest scholars of Islam at the time, is interesting for praising both Ibn Idris, the Sufi, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. This is important to note because today, al-Shawkani is classified as a "Salafi" and some Saudi shaykhs claim that he was anti-Sufi.

Al-Shawkani corresponded with Ibn Idris, "lavished praise on him," and "advised people to obtain as much of his learning as possible. He asserted that this knowledge [taught by Ibn Idris] is new and not something anyone possessed before."[39]

Al-Shawkani was at the same time in agreement with "the puritanical tendencies of the Wahhabiyya" but rejected their extremism. Like Ibn Idris and the Wahhabis, he condemned the erection of buildings over the tombs of saints, but whereas Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab saw this as renunciation of Islam, Shawkani and Ibn Idris saw it as a sin. Al-Shawkani also condemned Wahhabi takfir. [40]

In praise of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, al-Shawkani wrote in verse,

Wake up, blamer of the shaykh! What do you blame him for?
You have blamed the true and contrived what is false.

Yes, his sin was to have cut the rope of taqlid
and blunted madhhab-partisanship with shining swords.

When he called to God shouting among the people,
you shouted slander against him like thunderers.

Wake up! Wake up! He called not to a religion
which your forefathers and the tribes practiced

but to the Book of God and to the Sunna
which Taha[40] the Prophet, the best ever to speak, brought us. [42]

Yet criticizing the excesses of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, much like Ibn Idris, he said:

How can it be said people have become infidels
because their graves display stone and wood.

And if they say it is proper that the graves
have been levelled, one cannot deny this.

Yet this is a sin, not infidelity or depravity.
Can there be any doubt in this matter? [43]

Scholars have identified three stages in the Wahhabi movement: a revolutionary stage, a reform stage, and a mature stage.[44] This does not include the difference in ideology and beliefs between the very founders of the movement (Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, his two sons and grandson, Sa'ud ibn Abd al-Aziz, and the scholars of their entourage) and their successors. For a brief discussion of these stages, see the article by Sedgwick, shown in the citations.

Conclusions

By looking at these interactions between the early Wahhabis and the other scholars of the time one can see many things about the early Wahhabis:

1) They were very similar in belief to several Sufi scholars of the Qarawiyyin in Morocco, but the Moroccan scholars did not accept their excesses in killing those they disagree with. This includes the beliefs about the nature of God and the current state of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), as well as views on visiting graves, etc.

2) They were not opposed to Sufism, but to certain Sufi practices. They even honored such Sufis as Ahmad Ibn Idris because of his strict adherence to the Sharia and had friendly relations with him. Ahmad ibn Idris also preferred the Wahhabis to the traditional scholars of Cairo and Mecca, and only stayed in Mecca as long as the Wahhabis stayed there.

3) The later Wahhabi scholars diverged from the beliefs of the founders of the movement by holding that the entire ummah plunged into disbelief, and disrespecting such scholars as Ahmad ibn Idris. They also did not have the same scholarly knowledge that their founder had and simply imitated him in all his rulings, thus practicing taqlid. They were later to denounce all of Sufism itself, which none of the founders of the movement seem to have done.

4) Major scholars from Morocco and Yemen agreed that Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab had noble intentions but disagreed with his labelling of others, such as those who erect buildings over graves, as unbelievers. And they disagreed with his shedding of Muslim blood without due procedure. Sa'ud ibn Abd al-Aziz and Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's sons, however, did respect proper procedure and the demand for proof in persecution (according to Ibn Idris). But later Wahhabis did not, and killed indiscriminately, as had the founder.

5) The way in which Wahhabi and non-Wahhabi scholars saw each other at this early period, and their similar attitudes toward Sufism and many Sufi practices, give more credence to John Voll's suggestion that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's reforms were inspired by the Sufi reformers in his intellectual milieu. Perhaps his movement was not fundamentally different from the others, but only went to more extreme lengths.

------------
1. O’Fahey, R.S. Enigmatic Saint, London: C. Hurst & Co., 1990. Pg 91.
2. Sedgwick, Mark J.R. “Saudi Sufis: Compromize in the Hijaz, 1925-40”, Die Welt des Islams 37,3. Pg 352.
3. O’Fahey pg 34.
4. Vikor, Knust S. Sufi & Scholar on the Desert Edge. London: C. Hurst & Co., 1995. Pg 36.
5. O’Fahey, pg 34.
6. Vikor, 39.
7. Ibid, 65.
8. O’Fahey, 34.
9. Vikor, 66.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. ibid.
13.Ibid.
14. Ibid, footnote 66.
15. Ibid, pg 67.
16. Sedgwick, 352.
17. Ibid, 353.
18. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, ar-Rasa’il al-Shakhsiyya, pg 11, 12, 61, 64. See link.
19. Mu ammad Man an-Nu’mani, Ad-ia'at al-Mukaththafa Didd ash-Shaikh Muammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, pg 85. See link.
20. O'Fahey, 13.
21. O'Fahey, 26.
22. Ibid, 66.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid, 49.
25. Radtke et al. The Exoteric Ahmad ibn Idris. Lieden; Boston; Koln: Brill, 1999. Pg 28.
26. Ibid, 27-28.
27. Ibid.
28. O'Fahey, 94.
29. Radtke, 187-8.
30. Ibid, 188-9.
31. Ibid, 191.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid, 192.
34. Ibid.
35. O'Fahey, 98.
36. Ibid, 105.
37. Another difference was that Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab did not declare Ibn Arabi as an unbeliever, as can be seen in his own letters, whereas al-Kubaybi did accuse Ibn Arabi of unbelief in the debate and so do all Wahhabis today.
38. Radtke, 13.
39. Ibid, 187.
40. Ibid, 21.
41. Taha is one of the names of the Prophet Muhammad.
42. Radtke, 22. Footnote 92.
43. Ibid, 20. Footnote 73.
44. Sedgwick, 352.
45. John Voll. "Muhammad Hayya al-Sindi and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: An Analyis of an Intellectual Group in Eighteenth-Century Medina". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, xxxviii, 1, 1975, 32-9.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid, pg 39.
48. Ibid.
49. Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi, al-Manhal al-Rawiyy al-Rai'q, al-Majmu'a al-Mukhtara, Manchester: 1990, pg 50.

Technorati Tags: Wahhabi, Sufi, Salafi, Islam

Back to Blogging

2006-09-03T16:08:00.000+03:00

Assalamu Alaykum,

I simply didnt feel like blogging for a long time, and I was busy with friends and stuff, so that is why I didnt write anything for a while. Also, I have been suffering from flu-like symptoms for 5 days now, and it keeps getting worse every day. Some of the symptoms are becoming quite severe. I ask Allah for health and praise him for the good in this illness of which only He has knowledge. I also found in this day, in which I am suffering from severe chest pains and can barely talk or breathe, a good opportunity to write about some things I’ve been meaning to discuss. Had I not been ill, I would already be in Egypt now where I do not have these resources at hand which I have now, so again I thank Allah.

I promised before to write about the Shaikh Ahmad ibn Idris, but I decided to first write about another topic which was a recurring theme in the studies that I have read about the Idrisi tradition. That topic is early Wahhabi thought, and what I read while studying about the Idrisi tradition, of the interactions between Ibn Idris and other Ulama of the time with the Wahhabis has challenged what I had previously thought about the founders of the Wahhabi movement. And so, I will first write an article about what I can tell of the early Wahhabi movement and its ideology from what I have read this summer, in which you will also get a small glimpse into the life of Ahmad ibn Idris. After this, I will, inshalla, write a summary about Ahmad ibn Idris in another post.

Wassalam.

Struggle within Christianity

2006-08-21T00:09:00.000+03:00

Today I went to hear a lecture at the [Christian] Orthodox Club, by Maher Elia Khoury, son of the famous Anglican Bishop Elia Khoury, who was one of the leaders of the P.L.O. The talk was about the Christian fundamentalists and Evangelists in the USA, and how their teachings influence American foreign policy. The talk was sponsored by APN, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature. According to their brossures, Israel is uprooting an average of 1 tree per minute in Palestine, and between 2001-2005, a total of 1,345,281 trees were uprooted. Their mission is to replant (at least) 1 million trees, and they have already achieved half that. Their slogan: They uproot trees, we plant them. I think that says a lot about Israel and the Palestinians.

But what does the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature have to do with Christian Fundamentalism? Well according to Maher Khoury, there's more than one kind of pollution: pollution of the environment, and pollution of thought. The ideas of the Christian fundamnetalists are polluting and destroying the original teachings of Christianity. In fact, these ppl have nothing to do with the fundamentals of Christianity, he says, which came about in the Arab world. The original, authentic Christianity is that practiced by the Orthodox and Catholic churches , and he even included the original Protestant church. What these Evangelists are doing are destroying Christianity and its message- they are taking the figure of Jesus and changing him completely, repackaging him and selling that new image to the world. They have destroyed the Jesus who was born, lived, preached, and was crucified in Palestine for the salvation of the world, the Jesus who came as light and Love.

Before I continue with what he was saying I should talk about a more important link between environtmentalist groups and the topic. Ok well instead of talking about it, I'll link you to an earlier post I wrote about this, which says it all much better in a concise manner, so here you go: "The End Days and the Environment".

Also the fact that all these trees are being uprooted for the sake of the settlements is due to support by the same Christians, who can't wait to see all Palestinians kicked out of Palestine, a new temple built on Mt. Zion, and well, Armageddon. They're ecstatic about this happening any moment soon, and they're doing all they can to help the Jews win and take the land of Palestine, only so that Jesus will descend and wipe out all the Jews who dont convert to Christianity, and establish his kingdom on Earth. (Apparently only 144,000 Jews will convert and be saved, and the rest will all be killed).

Well, back to the lecture. Not much to say, other than his denouncing of these Evengelists' ideas as an aberration, and how important it was for Christians the world over to fight against these ideas. He also made fun of the idea of Rapture (see the link above). He then called on all Christians from all churches to speak out against these people. Interestingly, he said that if any American missionary came here to preach these ideas, the Jordanian government would have to allow him to do so so that they could say they allow freedom of speech. Well, said Maher, they shouldn't allow him. He said the Christian churches should be the first to ask the Jordanian government to bar such people from preaching their ideas; that first, the Jordanian gov't should assemble a group of representatives of all the ancient and original churches to analyze the ideas of every missionary and to bar them from preaching if they subscribe to such fundamentalist beliefs. Most of the lecture however was about the history of this movement and their strong influence on the White House. It ended with a segment on the topic by 60 Minutes.

Another interesting thing that he said was his criticism of how literally they understand the Bible, including the age of the earth and other things. He said the authentic churches dont have a purely literal understanding of the Bible because the Bible, unlike the Qur'an, was written by people, not directly revealed by God, so it cant be taken absolutely literally. I'm not sure how much these churches, or his own father, a famous Bishop, would agree, but I'm no expert on these things. In clear contrast to this was something from the video, where a famous Evangelist (dont remember the name), said that it's wrong to say the Bible contained the word of God. The Bible is the word of God. By the way Maher said the early church fathers were hesitant about including the Book of Revelations (the fundamentalists' favourite section) in the Bible, because they were not sure of its authenticity.

Then came a round of what was supposed to be questions, but it was really listeners trying to force their opinions on everyone else. What interested me was the attitude of the Christian people who voiced their comments. One said we need both Islam and Christianity to unite under a framework of Arab nationalism. Another said he was Arab then Christian. I think every Christian who spoke put being Arab above being Christian, which didnt make sense to me. Shouldn't religion come before everything else? It also pleased me how they defended Islam against what the fundamentalists were saying and one Christian said that if these people succeed in destroying Islam then everything else will be destroyed too. Another said that the opposition to Israel in the Arab world is mostly done in Islamic terms today, but that Muslims should take into consideration the Christians who live amongst them, because the fight against Israeli should be an Arab fight, not an Islamic one: a fight by both Muslims and Christians together against Israel.

Peace!

Pulling Cars

2006-08-19T23:48:00.000+03:00

So, I was re-reading an old article on T-Nation called "The Lost Art of the Finisher", which I remembered talked about pushing cars, and I realized that there's one thing I totally didn't think of when I went pushing cars with G: pulling cars. So today I bought a rope and we decided to pull the car. I thought it would be a great rowing-style movement for the back, to balance out all the pushing from last time. So G came over, we did a lot of pullups on the new bar I had installed in the house, and did some pushups in between each set, and when our backs were fried, we thought we'd finish them off with the car pulling (hence the name, "the lost art of the finisher").

So I started pulling the jeep in the same street we found last time, but i realized our big mistake: while i could push a Jeep Cherokee using my legs, and even push it with my arms with my legs in place, it was damn hard to pull the thing toward me with a rope, with my body twisted in an angle (like pulling rope). I mean sure I got the Jeep moving but it was really hard and slow, and it made me wish I was wearing gloves.

After I thought I couldn't pull anymore, I felt like grabbing on to the top of the jeep (the luggage rack), with my feet on the step coming out of the jeep, while my friend drove off. It was only meant to be while the car turned around so we could continue on a small incline. But then we decided to keep driving with me hanging on to the car from outside for a while, and the rope was with me. It was still attached to the front of the car. So what I did was I rapped it around me and hooked it to the luggage rack on top of the car, until I felt secure. Now I could let go of both hands as my friend drove around the neighborhood, and I was secure on the outside of the car, the rope holding me in place. It was fun looking at all the people looking at us with a confused look, with both my arms in the air.

Well, we kept driving around, having fun, until all of a sudden the rope started shaking and we heard a strange noise, at which point I grabbed on to the rack and told my friend to stop the car. I got off and found out that the rope slipped down to the side of the car and was being cut by the tire. In fact, it had been torn apart so much that there was only a tiny strand left on the rope. If we hadn't stopped the car, the rope would have snapped any second later. Had I not grabbed on to the rack upon hearing the sound, I might have flown off the car! haha. Well, I know how stupid that was, but it was fun, and alhamdulillah nothing happened. I was joking with G and said to him, "you know why I'm still alive? Because when we just passed by that mosque I told you how beautiful it was, so God decided to let me live a little longer." By the way that was a really cool mosque, and I was happy to see a lot of young guys coming out of it after isha prayer.

hopefully either tomorrow or the day after I'm gonna post something long about the shaykh that I have come to admire most, Ahmad ibn Idris.

Pushing Cars

2006-08-17T23:52:00.000+03:00

I drove around with my friend "G" tonight looking for an empty street somewhere in the neighborhood where I can push the car around freely. Pushing cars is one of the greatest exercises: it's a whole-body exercise, recruiting every muscle in your body. I had done this exercise once before with a friend in Cairo, on an old volvo, which is quite heavy- it's older than i am! Well, this time it was a 96 Jeep Cherokee. Apparently it's much heavier than the volvo! I mean I was able to push the volvo up a (very small) incline, but with the jeep it was impossible. I would keep shouting at G, "ARE YOU SURE YOU LET GO OF THE BRAKES?!?!?!" So we had to keep looking for a street that was perfectly flat, at which point I could push it. And if it got easy I would ask him to press on the brakes slightly to increase resistance.

Not only is this a great whole-body exercise -and whole-body exercises are great at releasing growth hormone for 24-28 hours after exercise, depending on how hard you trained- but it's one of the most functional exercises. It gives you strength applicable in the real world, whereas most exercises you see being done in the gym do not look like anything you do outside the gym.

It's also a very versatile exercise. I can put my arms against the car, and push with my legs, working my whole lower body, with emphasis on the front quads. Or, I can push off not from the whole foot, but only the toes, at which point you're blasting the calves. Alternatively, you can push with your back to car, which puts more focus on the inner leg muscles and the posterior chain (hamstrings, etc). Finally, you can stand in place, legs secure, and push only with your upper body, working back, chest, shoulders, arms, pretty much the entire upper body.

But while all these body parts certainly burned during the workout, the one body part that hurt all the way home was the abs. The abs have the function of stabilizing your body. For example, you're pushing with your upper body, while the car would naturally be rolling back or standing still. All this pressure on your upper body might break your body in half if not for the powerful abdominal muscles keeping it in place and stabilizing the whole thing. And damn did my abs hurt for a long time after the workout.

Tip: a street with bumps is more fun. Try getting pushing a jeep cherokee over a bump! Another tip: make sure you have a lot of Deep Heat (or any other muscle pain cream) ready after the workout.

In the end, this was an amazing workout, and hopefully I'll do it again next week. Obviously you need a partner to steer the car (while the gear is on neutral), to stop the car when needed, to step on the breaks (gently) if it gets too easy, and to hopefully stop the car from rolling back at you should you fail to push it on an incline or over a big bump.

Speaking of strength training, one thing I'm striving for is increased muscle mass. but not for aesthetic reasons. Well, if you consider not having a soft body or a belly an aesthetic reason, ok.. but its definitly not for vanity. It's mostly for increased strength and a raised metabolism and some other stuff. Anyway, I do notice myself looking at the mirror and flexing a lot lately, and this worries me. I'm trying to discipline my ego and keep it in check, and yet this seems like something that would increase my ego. I think its dangerous territory to be fighting against your ego and building muscle, but right now I think its not a problem and I'm pretty sure i'm ok. Yeah i do find myself looking at the mirror more before going into the shower, and even flexing, but that's also because im happy about the results of my hard work and dedication and the progress.

Now the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, liked to give names to what little things he possessed. Sometimes these were humerous, like calling his mule Duldul (swaying back and forth), sarcastic, like calling his pair of scissors Jaami' (uniter), and sometimes more serious. The name that the Messenger of God gave his small mirror is Mudilla (the one that leads astray). That is something I should keep in mind everytime i catch myself looking at the mirror.

Peace!

Hot Coals

2006-08-10T21:03:00.000+03:00

"There will be a time when your religion will be like a hot piece of coal in the palm of your hand; you will not be able to hold it". The Prophet of Islam was gazing into the future while he talked to his followers early in the 7th century in Arabia. "Would this mean there would be very few Muslims?" someone asked. "No," replied the Prophet, "They will be large in numbers, more than ever before, but powerless like the foam on the ocean waves."

In the past two months I have read about at least 5 terrorist plots that were thwarted by intelligence agencies across the world. From Australia to Canada, America to England, and now most recently the plot to destroy airplanes in the air.... Time and time again, these terrorists try. The question is: how long will the intelligence agencies be able to stop them? How long before these terrorists actually succeed? I'm so worried about the number of attemps and their scale. It's... scary. What if they succeed? More than once? All over the world?

I know what... Islam will become hated all over the world. Blamed for the actions of these terrorists, who have nothing to do with Islam.

In their hearts is a disease, and Allah increaseth their disease. A painful doom is theirs because they lie. And when it is said to them:'Cause not corruption [or mischief] in the land', they say: 'We are nothing if not reformers (innama nahnu muslihoona).' Nay, unknown to themselves they are workers of corruption [or mischief]. (Qur'an 2:11-12)

And what do the millions of Muslims do? They are as numerous and powerless as the foams in the sea. They sit by while their religion is corrupted by those who think they are setting things right in the world (muslihoon). They sit by, unable to do anything about these people, while the image of their religion becomes so ruined, that holding on to it will be as holding coals in the palm of one hand.

But insha'Allah, even if everyone in the world turned against Islam, and even if we became the most persecuted and hated and misunderstood people on the earth, insha'Allah I will hold on to Islam, no matter how painful that will be. Everyone will look at Islam and perceive it as fire, when it is nothing but cool water. But hopefully, hopefully that time is yet far away, and hopefully God will send those who will raise Islam to glory, and destroy the workers of mischief and corruption.

The Prophet (pbuh) said about Ad-Dajjal[1] that he would have water and fire with him: his fire would (in truth) be cold water and his water would (actually) be fire.

[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 9.244]

He also said, "Then the Dajjal will come forth accompanied by a river and fire. He who falls into his fire will certainly receive his reward, and have his load taken off him, but he who falls into his river will have his load retained and his reward taken from him." Someone asked: "What will come next?" He said: "The Last Hour will come."

[Sunan of Abu Dawud #4232]

[update]: regarding the arrests made in England of the Pakistanis who attempted to blow up planes in the air, it seems that the arrests were made thanks to tip offs from the Muslim community in England. According to a British intelligence official, the original information about the plot came from a tip from the Muslim community in Britain, by persons concerned about the activities of their acquaintances. This is one thing we Muslims can do. We still have some power and ability to do something.

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1. The word ad-Dajjal means "the one who deceives and misguides".

George Galloway on Hizbullah

2006-08-09T15:05:00.000+03:00

The War on Lebanon, and How the Arab World is Changing

2006-08-05T20:41:00.000+03:00

pretty good report by the Guardian. Here's some quotes.

The anger in Egypt ranges across the spectrum from the Muslim Brotherhood - which has offered to "send immediately 10,000 mujahideen to fight the Zionists alongside Hizbullah" - to business associations. Chambers of commerce and trade unions have organised gala dinners to raise money for war victims and the two mobile operators, MobiNil and Vodafone, have set up a premium-rate hotline whose profits are sent to Lebanon.

The Shia organisation and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have become symbols of resistance even in such unlikely places as the Gulf countries where Sunnis and Shias have been spotted waving the yellow-and-green flag. Christians are joining in as well. In Damascus yesterday, a Catholic church held a special mass. "Pray for the resistance, pray for Hassan Nasrallah. He is defending justice," Father Elias Zahlawi urged his congregation.

Khaled Almaeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News, a liberal daily based in Jeddah, has been expressing his anger in a series of columns since hostilities broke out. "There is a surging tide of bitterness and alienation," he said. "It is not simply because of Lebanon, but Lebanon may be the straw that breaks the camel's back."

In Baghdad yesterday hundreds of thousands of Shia youths waved Hizbullah flags, proclaiming their willingness to die for Lebanon.

Other Arab governments including Egypt and Saudi Arabia - have [, besides Jordan,] also toughened their stance but this cuts little ice with many of the demonstrators."Egypt! Jordan! Saudi Arabia! Nasrallah has bested you all," they chanted in the Cairo square on Thursday. Hizbullah's defiance was contrasted favourably with the somnolence of Arab regimes. "The Arab world has changed," Mr Almaeena said. "It has a new breed of young people ... They will not put up with the same old status quo. The political scene in the Arab world is changing too. In a few years there will be those who will resist even more. "

you should read the whole thing though.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1837874,00.html

Waking Up for Fajr

2006-08-04T00:04:00.000+03:00

Well, having stayed in Jordan for about 10 or 11 days, I'm happy to report that i've been able to do all my prayers in their proper times- every post-fajr prayer, that is. Only one time in these 10 days have I had to make up a prayer, and that was because I went to a charity concert in support of the youths of Lebanon and Palestine which caused me to miss maghreb and have to make it up after isha. This is a huge difference from what I was doing in Egypt before coming here, and hopefully I will keep this up and be able to continue this when back in Egypt. And God is our support.

Anyway, I've been missing fajr every night, and to be honest I haven't actually tried or wanted to wake up for fajr. I didn't feel I was ready to try doing so yet, before feeling secure with my previous accomplishments first. But now that I feel like my other prayers are well-established, i'm ready to take on fajr. And if i can get myself to do it in congregation in the mosque (which is nearby, that that would be amazing).

"There is no prayer heavier on the hypocrites than Fajr and Isha. If they only knew what is in them, they would come to them even if they had to crawl."
- Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) [1]

This leaves me with a problem: even if i use an alarm to wake me up, I usually wake up, turn off the alarm, and go back to sleep. And most times I dont remember doing this, but figure it out when I wake up next morning.

But I'm going to try another method, which I learned from bodybuilders. You see, bodybuilders are crazy. Well, they're not all crazy, but a lot of them are. Now the body has natural cycles of anabolism, the phase in which your body builds stuff, like storing food and buildig muscle, and catabolism, when your body breaks things down, such as muscle, for energy. Both are important. For example, the act of working out itself is considered the most anabolic thing you can do, but it is also the most catabolic period of your day. You see, during the workout itself, you go into high catabolism: you're releasing energy and breaking down muscle. You do this only so that your body will overcompensate with anabolism to make your muscles grow back even bigger than before. The more catabolic your workout, the more anabolic the body's response will be, and so the workout could be said to be anabolic.

Thus, both anabolism and catabolism are important and inseperable. If you are trying to stay in an anabolic state all the time, your anabolism is slow and weak. But if you go through long or strong catabolism, your body will react with even stronger anabolism. Sleeping is a perfect time for your body to be in a fasting, catabolic state, after which you can return anabolism the rest of the day.

But most bodybuilders fear the word catabolism. They have been taught my magazine ads that they need to be in a state of anabolism all the time. That catabolism is pure evil. Thus they want their body taking in nutrients every second of their existence. Before they sleep, they take a slow-releasing protein drink that will keep releasing protein in their system for hours. But that is not enough for the crazy bodybuilder (again, the word crazy here is for distinction, not labelling all bodybuilders). These guys actually wake themselves up late at night in order to drink a protein drink. Yes, they wake themselves up at about 3 or 4 a.m, drink a protein shake, and go back to sleep! All from fear of the evil catabolism. IT'S THE ADVERTISEMENTS THAT ARE EVIL, DAMMIT! Give your body a damn break!

So anyway, how do said bodybuilders get themselves to wake up and drink their protein shakes, and avoid going back to sleep? Well, we know that we can easily turn off the alarm clock and go back to sleep, even if it's on the desk across the room. So, what they do is drink a lot of liquid just before going to bed. This way, they have to wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, an activity that requires more alertness than turning off an alarm clock. Yes, there are tons of bodybilders out there, many of them skinny beginners, drinking tons of water before going to bed so that they can wake up for their mid-night protein drinks, to keep that evil catabolism at bay.

So I figured i'd try this for fajr prayer. The problem is, with bodybuilders, it doesnt really matter whether it's 3, 4 or any other time that your bladder wakes you up at night. But for fajr, there is a specific time for prayer. So I will give this a try tonight inshalla, and see if it works or not, and when i will wake up. Hopefully, it will be around fajr time, or up to 30 minutes earlier. Either way, it would be acceptable. But to wake up an hour earlier and have to wait that long (or waking up way after fajr), that would not work, and i might have to find another way. (Maybe I could train a small harmless snake to bite me at fajr time every night! But them again I'm sure i'd just kill it and go back to sleep. J/K).

So, hopefully this bodybuilding tip will help me in my religious practices. If not, then at least I tried. And success comes from Allah.

Peace!

----
1. Riyad as-Salihin: Encouragement to attend the Group Prayers at Subh and Isha

Tip for Good Health, Religion

2006-07-29T18:06:00.000+03:00

We've all heard of the "French Paradox", or why the French dont get fat despite the foods that they eat. There are many explanations like the amounts of coffee that they drink, cigarettes that they smoke, and the resveratrol in the wine that they drink. But another very important reason is the way they eat their food. The French believe that one must sit down and focus on their meals (not eat while watching tv, for example), and to eat very slowly. They say to spend at least 20 minutes on each meal, to savour every bite, and chew very slowly[1]. This, I believe is one of the most important reasons that the french dont get fat.

I started doing this a month ago and it truly makes a huge difference. I eat very slowly, chewing my food as much as I can. In fact, when I'm eating I'm not thinking about the French and their way of eating but the Tibetans. Everytime I eat, I go by this Tibetan saying, "Drink your food and chew your water." Paul Chek elaborates,

That means you should chew your food until it's a liquid, and when you drink a liquid you shouldn't just slam it. You should move it around your mouth as though it was food because that mixes saliva with the water.

The saliva carries the energy from the spleen so it adds chi to the water; it enlivens the water so it'll actually have a therapeutic effect on the body. If you just slam piles of water straight into your stomach it's actually very stressful on the body. [2]

It is like the Prophet (pbuh) said about drinking: "Do not drink water in one breath like a camel. Recite the Name of God, breathe in and out to take three sips, and thank God." [3]

Well, I also think about the French when I eat in that my meal time is for eating only. Two days ago I was in the middle of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai when my dinner arrived. At first I was tempted to eat while watching the movie, but decided that it would cause me to be unconscious of my food and would make me swallow my food before chewing it properly. We have to be mindful of our eating in Islam, and in Zen Buddhism they consider this an important practice that novices must master, which they call Mindful Eating [6]. So, I paused the movie, ate slowly, and when I was done I resumed the movie.

And like the Tibetan saying, evertime I eat I try to chew until my food is almost a liquid. This is great for many reasons. First, it improves digestion. When you don't chew your food enough, it is not digested as well because it is not exposed to the digestive enzymes in your saliva, and also because the chunks that go down are so big that they are not digested well by the stomach and intestines. This means that your body will not feel so good after eating, and it might make it more difficult for you to do your religious duties like prayer. That is why Muslims prefer to eat very little and to chew slowly, so that they always feel light and can perform all their prayers easily.

Also because of this greater digestion, you get more out of your food. When you do not digest your food as well, you do not get as many nutrients from it. Because of this, you need to eat larger quantities to get a sufficient amount of nutrients. By chewing very carefully, you get more nutrients from a lesser amount of food.

This brings us to the third benefit: eating less. By chewing more, you eat less. The longer you chew, the less food that you eat before you feel full. So you are getting all the nutrients that you need from less food, you are getting thinner, and your body feels much better the whole day, allowing you to perform your religious duties easier. All this by chewing slowly and carefully.

Finally, it helps if your food is not hot. I've come to like all my food cold. Today I made the mistake of eating food straight out of the oven and I was so shocked at the amount that I ate. When the food is really hot, it's very hard to keep it in your mouth long and to chew it, and so you just swallow it down without chewing on in. This means you will need far more food before you feel satisfied. I think I ate triple what I usually eat for lunch simply because the food was hot. Cold food allows you to chew it as long as you want, and to enjoy the taste. When it's hot, you don't feel the taste as much (or so it is with me). It doesn't have to be cold cold, just not hot. Personally, I like to eat all my food actually cold, like after taking out of the fridge. You don't have to do that if you dont like it (although I find it tastes better that way), just make sure it is not very hot, so that you can eat it at a slower rate. The colder the food, the less you need to eat before you are full. In fact, one of the most famous Islamic teachings about food is never to blow on hot food so that one could eat it, but to wait for it to cool down.

Also, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said,

"Leave the food to cool for hot food has no blessing." [4]

And it is reported that he, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

"Eat cold food, because it has the blessing of abundance. If you are heedful you will see how much more you must eat when you eat warm food..." [5]

Anyway, just try not to eat your food when it's hot (warm is good enough), and eat very slowly. It will have more blessings and abundance, and your body will thank you!

Note:
For Sufi works about the proper way to eat see Book XI of al-Ghazali's Revival of the Religious Sciences, entitled Manners Relating to Eating or Alaa' ad-Dawla as-Simnani's Aadaab as-Sufra (Table Manners).

wassalam

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1. Wyatt, Caroline. "Aged 11, I was too big for Paris"
2. T-Nation: "Deconstructing Paul Chek"
3. Reported by Tirmidhi
4. Reported by Tabarani. This Hadith is further supported by a Hadith graded as Sahih (authentic) by Imaam Hibbaan which is as follows: When Sayyidatuna Asmaa bint Abu Bakr (Radhiallaahu Anhuma) used to cook Thareed (a special type of food), she used to cover it a while till the steam stopped, then she used to say, ‘I heard Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) saying, ‘Verily it is greater in blessing.’ (Saheeh ibn Hibbaan vol.7 pg.321)
5. Imam Birgivi. The Path of Muhammad, pg 16.
6. I added this paragraph after reading DA's comment to the post.

in jordan...

2006-07-26T22:03:00.000+03:00

assalamu alaykum

well im in jordan and trying my best to stay away from the computer as much as possible. so im gonna talk briefly about what's going on.

first of all i'm here till early september... just gonna relax, read, swim, workout, eat good clean delicious food, etc.
Also, alhamdulillah matters of worship have become much better. i'm doing all my prayers on time (except fajr which i keep missing), and not only that, but i'm doing as many as i possibly can in the mosque. so far i've done at least one in the mosque each day, but usually two prayers. i'm gonna try to increase that to three or four but i cant always make it to the mosque. so alhamdullillah this is great and i hope i get used to this and continue it when i'm back in egypt.

also i brought with me a CD i bought from the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo after one Jum'ah prayer. The CD is a program containing Ibn Raslan's Zubad with commentary by Shaykh Ali Gom'aa. The Zubad is a simple 1000-line poem in Shafi'i fiqh, explaining everything one needs to know from aqeeda (creed, set of beleifs) to practice (everything about prayers, fasting, and much more). With this program I get to read the poem while listening to commentary and explanation by Ali Gom'aa. Everyday I listen to a 30-minute section. There's about 55 such sections.

I'm also going to try to get in contact with Shaykh Nuh Keller's people (or the SunniPath people) to see if there's any courses I can take while i'm here. I doubt it though.

finally, i brought three books with me from the library of the American University in Cairo. Why? Well they are out of print and I can't buy them except used and for at least double the price. So I borrowed them from the library and plan to make copies of them here in Jordan. A copy with hardcover and everything. they will look just like the original (except with a plain hardcover).

the books are:

- The Exoteric Ahmad Ibn Idris: A Sufi's Critique of the Madhahib and the Wahhabis: Four Arabic Texts With Translation and Commentary.
- Enigmatic Saint: Ahmad Ibn Idris and the Idrisi Tradition
- Sufi and Scholar on the Desert Edge: Muhammad B. Ali al-Sanusi and his Brotherhood

So, in regards to religion everything is good so far, alhamdulillah. With health and fitness the same. I'm planning to swim on all my rest days from the gym, inshalla.

Also i'm experimenting on my eyes. I believe, no i KNOW that i can improve my vision and i'm doing a full attack on my eyes until my myopia decreases (inshalla). I dont want to discuss everything i'm doing now but i'll get into it later. Or better yet, I won't get into it later, because I dont want to be spending too much time on the computer. Of course I know i'll end up discussing it sometime this week. so we'll see.

peace!

Second Encounter

2006-07-21T14:16:00.000+03:00

Bism Allah,

looks like it's been a week since I last posted, since my previous post was from last friday about how I saw Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl at the mosque next to my place but didn't speak to him. Well, I decided to go to the same mosque again this week to see if he'll be there, and he was! In fact I entered the mosque right behind him. The khutba had started so I couldn't talk to him until after the prayers. First I approached the young guy (well, probably my age), who was with him, and asked him about the professor's health and how he's doing. He told me that he's good and that he's staying here for the summer and took me to talk to him (they were on the way out to their car). So I did go and talk to him. I'm leaving Cairo on sunday for the rest of summer, after which he will be going back to UCLA so I knew this would probably be the last time I see him (for now, inshalla). But I told him that I attended his lectures at AUC that I'm thinking about getting a degree in Islamic Law and he told me about the best 4 places in the world that I could go to. Well, the four best professors in the world that I could go to, each at a different university. It's not about the university but about the professor. For example I told him where I was thinking about going, and he told me that the famous professor in Islamic Law there might move from there to go somewhere else, so that there would be no point in going to that university if he's not there anymore, and should go to the university that he will move to. This meeting, therefore, might have saved me from going to the wrong country, because that professor has not told anyone yet about his plans to move, and now I know that I might not want to go to the university he's leaving, where I was thinking about going.

I'm very thankful to Allah for having provided me this meeting with the professor, both for all that he told me about where to go, and for meeting Professor Abou El Fadl himself. He seemed like such a nice guy, and inshalla I will meet him again sometime. Too bad I want to avoid going to the States, otherwise I might have applied to go learn with him.

Alhamdulilah, wassalam.

Lost Opportunity

2006-07-14T14:23:00.000+03:00

assalamu alaykum,

sometimes for friday prayer (whenever i can) i go to the Sultan Hassan Mosque, 25 minutes away by taxi on Fridays. Well, I couldn't today, I woke up late and everything (ive actually not been able to go almost every time, i tihnk i only went twice so far). But hopefully i'll start going there more. It's a beautiful mosque, one of the largest in Cairo, and the khateeb (the guy who gives the Friday khutba or sermon) is the official mufti (the guy who makes fatwas) of Egypt, Ali Gomaa. I really like this guy, he's highly educated, and very well informed in philosophy and in western thought.

Well today I couldn't and ended up going to the mosque next to my house, and I was surprised to see Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl there. I've attended two lectures he gave at the American University in Cairo, and I took out one of his books, The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses, but I didnt get a chance to finish it. It started out great and he has a great sense of humor as well, hopefully i'll go back to it some day. sheilaX has posted an interview with him from his recent trip to Singapore where he was promoting his new book, The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists. He is Professor of Law at UCLA where he teaches Islamic Law and other law subjects.

When I heard him speak about Islamic Law in his lectures, he said some amazing things, some beautiful things, and it made me want to get into it more. Then I remembered how my Muslim Political Science professor said that there are almost no western scholars who actually understand the inner workings of Islamic Jurisprudence. They understand the basics, and the principles, but they dont really understand how it really works. You have to go through the traditional fiqh teaching and to become a scholar to truly understand how it works. And I thought, wow, it would be amazing if I could become a scholar in Islamic Law and a faqih. I would be doing something amazing and my knowledge would be very rare in the west. I'm still thinking about getting a degree in Islamic Law, but I'm still not sure.

Well, I wanted to go speak to Professor Abou El Fadl after the end of the friday prayers but he was busy doing the sunna (extra) prayers. Now he has a brain tumor I believe, and needs a cane to walk and usually has a nurse that goes everywhere with him. So I wasnt surprised to see him sitting on a chair next to the old men in the back rows at the mosque. But I was truly surprised when he was doing his sunna prayers standing, not from the chair. Usually old men and those who are unable to do the prayer as it is supposed to be done, are allowed to do it from a chair. This is even more so for the extra sunna prayers because they are not obligatory, and so I expected him to be doing them from the chair. But, he was doing them while standing, even though it was very difficult for him. There was a young guy next to him ho would help him stand up after the prostration, with much difficulty. May God multiply his rewards for his striving and his effort.

I really wanted to go talk to him, but he seemed tired even earlier during the khutba, and I was worried about disturbing him. Maybe he needs to get back home and rest, or to take medication. I just didn't think it was right of me to go and bother him. But I feel like I missed out on a great opportunity. I mean here's this genius professor, living somewhere near my place, and I feel its a great loss that I cannot go and visit him and learn from him. If only I had asked where he lived and if I could visit when he was feeling ok. There's so much I could learn from him, and so much advice he could give me.

Oh well. May God restore his health and his strength, and keep him for the sake of our ummah, because we need minds like his. Sure, even I disagree with many things that he has said, but anyone who listened to that lecture he gave about Islamic Law at AUC must admit that he has an incredible mind that we really need, and ideas that we must always keep in our minds.

Israeli blockade

2006-07-13T15:13:00.000+03:00

My parents are in lebanon. they were planning to go back to jordan tomorrow by plane, but Israel attacked Lebanon's airport, and imposed an air and sea blockade. So my parents might try to go back by land, but the lebanon-syria, syria-jordan borders are now so jammed with traffic that it would probably take 10 hours at the border. israel is also thinking about blocking off lebanon by land as well, so there's a chance they'll be stuck there for who knows when. israel also basically cut off the capital Beirut from southern Lebanon by destroying the bridges and roads.

update:

i heard that even the land routes out of lebanon are blocked now and that only people who left very early in the morning where able to make it to Jordan. so my parents are stuck in lebanon until this is worked out.

The Gom Jabbar

2006-07-07T13:20:00.000+03:00

“A duke’s son must know about poisons", [the Reverend Mother] said. "...Here’s a new one for you: the gom jabbar. It kills only animals.”

Pride overcame Paul's fear. "You dare suggest a duke's son is an animal?" he demanded.

-Dune

At the beginning of Dune, Paul Atreides is brought into the presence of the Reverend Mother Mohiam in order to be tested. Now obviously if all of us humans were living at a level above that of animals, such a test would not be necessary.

Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)? ... Or thinkest thou that most of them listen or understand? They are only like cattle;- nay, they are worse astray in Path. (Quran 25: 43-44)

And that is just what the Gom Jabbar test is for: to see if Paul can override his own natural impulses. In the test, he puts his hand in a small box that causes him excruciating pain, but he knows that if he pulls out his hand he would die instantly. Now an animal, even if it knew and perfectly understood that it would die if it pulled out its hand from the box, would still pull it out as soon as it feels the pain. This is a natural reaction or impulse that the animal cannot override: it is hardwired to pull its hand away as soon as it experiences pain.

The Bene Gesserit believe that animals react only by instinct, their base emotions, and drives. They also believe that humans can use their self-awareness to combat instinct. That is what Paul did, when he faught his instinctual drive to run from the pain.

But everyday I see people failing the Gom Jabbar test miserably, even when it is far easier. Almost every day I see people, for example, who are really overweight and who have failed to lose any weight for years, even though they really want to. I see them sitting on the dining table, and just eating everything they could get their hands to. They know that they shouldn't, but they don't seem to be able to override their base desires. They dont seem to even try. They simply shut off all rational thought, and all the knowledge of how much further this takes them away from their goal, and simply let loose on the food. Eat, eat eat. It boggles my mind and I can't understand it. When there's food infront of them, they are simply animals, and they dont even try to override their desires, even when they know that they should! I just can't understand it. It seems really easy to me: my desires say yes, but my rational mind say I have a greater desire: to be healthy, and I sacrifice this worthless short-term pleasure for a greater long-term benefit, a benefit that would keep me happy all my life.

I mean, it's not like you are throwing away 10 minutes of extra pleasure in return for nothing. You are giving up 10 minutes of extra pleasure (because you can still get plenty pleasure eating healthy food), for a lifetime of happiness and satisfaction with your weight and health and body. But what these people do at every meal is opt for a little extra short term pleasure and a whole lifetime of dissapointment at their weight and health. I really can't understand it. I mean they spend their whole lives, every other minute, suffering from being fat, suffering because their knees hurt, beacuse their backs hurt, because they can't walk easily, because they look at the mirror and think they're looking at a poster of the Michelin Man, because they are always out of breath. You can't override a simple desire in order to get rid of all that?!

And this food example is just the most ready example in my mind because I see it everyday. But there is a little Gom Jabbar test in everything we do. Tell me, can't you override the desire to have a second look at that girl over there? How will that glance benefit you in any way? What do you get out of it? That's another thing that always boggled my mind, even though I fall for it myself. It doesn't benefit me in any way, but still sometimes I can't resist to give her a second glance. Why? I really can't understand. And what happens if I look? Eye zina, and the decrease (or extinguishment) of the divine light in one's heart and face. That divine light that illumines one's face if he prays late at night. That divine light that enters one's heart if he purifies it with God's remembrance (not that I have any of either at the moment, may God save me!)

Which brings me to something that I'm still struggling with: doing all my prayers. Most times it's about forgetfulness, but sometimes it's not. It's laziness. Why can't I override this ridiculous little desire to be lazy, to just sit there, while I know my whole life on this world and the next are at stake! Why? How could I be so stupid, so weak. How can I be in this worse than an animal? I'm giving away my spiritual advancement in this world, and acceptance in the next. I'm not doing right the most important thing that I am here to do. Why? Because I cannot override this tiny meaningless little desire. Every day, I fail the Gom Jabbar. There I was writing about how it boggles my mind that people are sacrificing their happiness in their lives for 5 minutes of extra happinness at meal time, whereas I am sacrificing my eternal happiness for... nothing. Not even for 5 or 10 minutes of happiness. All I would be losing out on is 5 or 10 minutes of, I dunno, sitting there. I can't believe it. This is insane. And it needs to stop.

O God, make me stronger!
I'm off to do my ablutions for prayer. Wassalam.

Suhba

2006-07-01T15:25:00.000+03:00

Assalamu Alaykum,

Egypt's heat is killing me... I haven't been able to write anything in a while because this heat just takes all the power out of you, and you just can't do anything. The problem is, I have a great disliking for air conditioners, I prefer to melt in the heat than to turn one on. I also want to get used to the heat. I feel like we're pampering our bodies too much, keeping the temperature perfect all year long, and I decided last summer in Egypt that I will never use the air conditioning, but make my body get used to the heat. One draw back of course is that it takes me a very long time to fall asleep, I wake up with a wet t-shirt and pillow from the sweat, and i'm probably losing lots of water and minerals from the sweating. Too bad I ran out of ZMA and have no multi-vitamin or mineral around.

Well, I woke up and fall asleep again at lest 5 times today. In one of those times I dragged myself out of bed, gravity pulling me down and the sun pushing down at me from above, and sat to watch the Iqra' channel, and to my luck found a discussion with the shaykh Habeeb Ali al-Jafri whose very existence always reminds me that all is not lost in the ummah and that there is much hope and much goodness around.

Well, today they were discussing where the education of the du'aat, those who call and invite the Muslims to guidance, went wrong. The discussion then branched off for the rest of the episode to talk about the importance of suhba in the education of the du'at and the teachers of Islam. Nowadays the word suhba usually refers to a certain talk that a Shaykh says, but its true meaning is companionship. Suhba was the way students accompanied their teachers wherever they went and served them in order to benefit from them and learn from them. Well, Shaykh Habeeb gave lots of examples from the Qur'an and the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (the way he acted toward his shaykh Imam al-Shafi'i), may God be pleased with them both. I'm not going to try to recount what he said because it was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes, but I will only say that I finally, for the first time, truly and sincerely asked God to send me a shaykh that I can accompany, a wali to purify me and help fix me upon the path of the Prophet (pbuh).

I don't know why but I've never really wanted it before. I would think about it, and I might even pray for it, but I'd know deep down that I wasn't being sincere about it, because it would conflict with my own desires. But now I realized I'd be willing to give anything up for accompanying a good shaykh who will strengthen me and guide me upon the path. I realized that I would be willing to give up anything that I liked in order to purify me heart and move upon the path to Allah.

So please pray for me, right now, and ask Allah that he send me a good shaykh, amen.

As I said before, I'm reading The Hundred Letters by shaykh Maneri, which are wonderful, and I finally decided to go to the bookstore and buy On Disciplining the Soul and Breaking the Two Desires, a translation of two books from Imam al-Ghazali's Ihyaa. The first one is called Kitaab Riyaadat an-Nafs (like the name of this blog), and the other is about breaking the two main desires: gluttony and sexual desire. (There is an excerpt in the link above, from the chapter on the importance of good character, which I wish everyone would read).

My own cousin told me how much he benefitted from applying the Ihyaa. He used to be a very unruly young man, always getting angry quickly, shouting at his parents, doing some drugs, etc. His main problem was his anger and temper. He bought the Ihyaa and read it all and applied everything he learned from it and truly changed his personality.

I ask Allah that I benefit from the works of the great Imam as well. Aameen.

Admitting Defeat

2006-06-26T20:34:00.000+03:00

Since I workout and I have goals of increasing muscle mass, losing fat, gaining strength, etc, the topic of nutrition has been one that I always end up reading about. After all, many of the world's most famous trainers believe(d) nutrition to be 80-90% of bodybuilding. But I never wanted to worry about it. I saw all those athletes counting calories, macronutrient ratios, etc, and I said to myself: "I never want to be like that". I just wanted to eat and train hard. Make up for the bad diet by training hard. I knew many people who trained hard and just ate normally and made good gains, and I read articles about prison inmates who make great gains even with very bad nutrition. But of course there is the matter of different people having different genetics, and being in different circumstances, etc.

Well, one year into the training and I've realized how much my gains have slowed down lately and had to admit defeat. I had been stalling and pretending everything was ok for the last 3 or 4 months, but I finally had to admit that I was wrong. I need to calculate my meals and create a meal plan, or my gains will come to a halt. I hated the idea, but I had to admit it, because if i kept lying to myself that it was unnecessary and that I could make great gains with only a fraction of what those other athletes are eating, then I will never get anywhere.

Well, I browsed through some of T-Nation's diet program articles, and I found the program that made a lot of sense to me. First, It was made by Christian Thibaudeau, who at one point was fat and has a body predisposed to gaining fat easily. Since I am also an FFB (former fat boy), I thought Christian's diets would be better suited for me than those of other experts like John Berardi for example, who was a skinny boy and had to eat massive amounts of food to bulk up (although this is not entirely fair because both of them have trained all types of athletes and know what to do for each person) . I also found that it agreed with some of my own ideas about eating: eating differently on training days than non-training days.

The program is called The Carb Cycling Codex, and it basically goes like this for a program like mine where there are three training days a week: two training days of high(er) carbs, one training day and one resting day of medium carbs, and three days of low(er) carbs. The quantities of protein and fat remain constant. But also on training days, most of the carbs are eaten post-workout, whereas in non-training days the carbs are eaten early in the day and non at night. It's still a bit more complex than that, and i spent a little over two hours calculating the protein, carb, and fat percentage of every meal of the week. 6 meals a day, 7 days a week (obviously), and the meals differ in protein, carb, and fat ratios, depending on time of day, type of day (training or non-training), and type of carb day (high, medium, low).

Well, after looking at the numbers and then looking at the macronutrient info of the foods i eat, i realized this was completely impossible. As long as I dont eat meat, there is no way I can even come close to satisfying the protein and fat percentages. Ok I could satisfy the protein requirements by spending hundreds of dollars on protein powder, but that's too expensive for me, bad for the health, and i still would not come near to satisfying 95% of the fat requirements!

(This is where my ego tries to convince me to start eating meat again. to make muscle gains. I did have a dream about this two days ago, where I went back to eating meat. It might be a signal from my body, but most likely not. Just a jumbled dream, and I will ignore it.)

So what I'm gonna do is get full milk instead of skimmed, to get more fat into me. I will also try to have 4-6 tablespoons of shredded coconut a day for extra fat, and also 9 grams of fish oil a day. And i'm gonna consider the numbers that i calculated as rough (very very very rough) and distant guidelines. If i do my very best, I might get one fourth the protein, one third the carbs, and less than one seventh of the fat required of me on this ideal diet. This is if i try my best. This tells you that my current diet is so poor, so horrible, that it's amazing I haven't imploded and created a mini-black hole.

Speaking of nutrition, I was listening yesterday to an interview on Super Human Radio (you can find it in the archives) with Randy Roach, who is writing an almost 800-page book about the history of bodybuilding nutrition and related topics. It all started with an article he was asked to write, as a bodybuilding historian, about the history of nutrition for bodybuilders, and he decided to expand it into a book, where he found it necessary to go into lots of details about all kinds of related topics. The book will be called Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors.

The article I had read a long time ago, it's called "Splendid Specimens:
The History of Nutrition in Bodybuilding" , and it's a great read because it tells you about the golden age of bodybuilding, and even more importantly the age before that, the age of the Physical Culture movement where health was the top priority. These guys were concerned with health more than anything else, and so they designed their bodybuilding and their nutrition to give them maximum health and great physiques, whereas today's bodybuilders might sacrifice their health for the sake of extreme ugly muscle. Many of these guys back then were vegetarian, while others advocated less meat and more raw foods. Even those who advocated lots of meat would also advocate periods of time in which no meat was eaten so that the body would re-alkalize. Inshalla when the book comes out next year i'll read it and hopefully gain better insights into designing a good bodybuilding vegetarian diet, oldschool style. For now, I definitly recommend reading the article for any one interested in nutrition for the athlete, but the interview is not very informative.

that's it for now. Wassalam.

Inner Beauty

2006-06-22T13:30:00.000+03:00

There's something about the khimar (usually given the wrong name "hijaab"). Whenever I see women wearing it, I find myself really attracted to them. I feel it makes them more beautiful. When I see other beautiful women who don't wear a khimaar, I find myself attracted to their physical body (I must admit I dont have the "lowering the gaze" thing mastered yet). You know, I see them, and I go "wow, she's beautiful". But I'm looking at her body. And then (hopefully), I lower my gaze and dont look back, (inshalla). But when a girl is wearing a khimar, I never ever find myself looking at her body. Even if she's dressed in jeans (sometimes even tight jeans) like any other girl. The fact that she has a khimaar on, it just makes me forget her body completely and I just look at the face. It's amazing how it does that.

And it does make them look more beautiful. For example, there was this girl called Layla. Oh man, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had that amazing smile, and the most amazing eyes... I kept thinking about her, dreaming about her. What I loved about her was her personality, and the look in her eyes, and her smile. They made me feel that she was a truly beautiful person. That is what I loved about her. She almost drove me crazy, and I ended up listening to a sufi song about the love of Layla repeatedly (for Sufi men, Layla is a symbol of the beloved that makes her lover crazy, so that he forgets everything else but her, so really Layla is a symbol of God).

And then I saw her identical twin. Identical physically, except that the sister did not wear a khimar or cover her hair. And that's when I realized, she doesn't really look beautiful at all. She's ok, she looks acceptable. But nothing special or even above-average, nothing I would give a second glance to. And then I looked back at Layla, and I realized she looked the same. But still, I found Layla to be so beautiful, so amazing. Even though she looked exactly like her sister! And then I realized how much more beautiful the khimar made her appear. It made her inner beauty come out- her beautiful personality reflected in her eyes and her smile. I still wished I could marry her, even though I realized she wouldn't look as beautiful when she took the khimar off, but it doesnt matter because I had seen her inner beauty.

There's a lot of other girls like this. When I look at them, I find them beautiful. Then I try to imagine them without the khimar, and I realize they are, at best, average. But it doesnt matter anymore, because I have seen how beautiful they can be in the khimar, and it doesnt matter anymore what they "really" look like without it.

Maybe it's just me, I dont know.

Well now Layla is no more, I dont know where she is or how she is. But there is this other girl, Imaan. Oh man, do I find her beautiful. But then one time I really looked at her face, and I realized she's not that pretty. It was the khimar again. And today, she came in a slender black 'abaaya, covering her whole body except for the hands and face, and with beautiful embroidery on the back of the head. And it was my favourite type of abaya for a girl, the one with a white or colored fabric coming out like this:

(except hers was red instead of white).

Man, I've really begun to love these abayas on women. Whenever I see a girl wearing one, I suddenly feel this extra respect and admiration for her. I've noticed especially many girls wearing this that seem to carry themselves with a lot of dignity and pride... One girl I saw wearing this, she simply exudes power and confidence... The way she walks and carries herself, I am left in awe.

So when I saw Imaan in this abaya, I found her even more beautiful than in the khimar! I dunno, I think they just bring out one's inner beauty or something, and they also make me feel more admiration or respect or something. I'm still not quite sure what it is. All I know is they seem so much more beautiful, so more like better people somehow.

One thing I realized while writing this post is I should definitly cut back on looking at girls! (Even though it's their inner beauty that gets to me, that itself is also a temptation of sorts).

Another thing that happened today:

There is is this poor man who shines shoes in the street, and I pass by him a lot. He looks so sweet, so kind, so good, and he always greats me with a smile and an "assalamu alaykum". Sometimes I give him change if I have any, and he practically begs me to shine my shoes in return. He wants to earn the money, and more so he wants to pay me back for whatever little amount I give him. I try telling him that my training shoes are not something you'd shine, but he insists he could clean them at least. He once asked for help because his mother was in the hospital, and I didnt have anything to to give him, so this time I asked about his mother, and he told me how she has heart problems and showed me the doctor's prescription for medicine. He also showed me her address and asked me to come visit her. I decided to give him something to make up for last time, and he stood up to thank me, and man, can you tell how beautiful he is on the inside. He is just... such a good person. I'm just happy everytime I see him, because of the amount of goodness that I see in him.

I dont know why, but he showed me pictures of his daughters too, which he kept in his wallet. He told me how he works shining shoes to support his family and how it is not enough to pay for his mother.

So now I bid him farewell and I pray for his mother's health, and then he says, "wait, I just want to tell you one thing". So he said, "Are you American or British?" (I dont look Arab at all, I'm always mistaken for an American, an Englishman, or a Russian). Anyway, I told him I come from Jordan.

"Are you Muslim?", he asked.
- al hamdu li-Llah.
- al hamdu li-Llah!.

"Let me just tell you one thing", he continued. "Always keep God before everything else. Keep God always on your mind. Forget this world, and forget everything that is in it. Don't pay attention to how beautiful it is, because its beauty will not last. Only God lasts. So always remember God, and always act for God, and don't be tempted by this world. The only thing that matters in this world is God, and loving others. If you like me, for example, then that is a beautiful thing, because that is what the world is about. But if you hate me, for example, then that is a horrible thing, because that is not what the world is for."

So I thanked him for the great advice, and I asked him to pray for me- I was going to say, "Pray that I do well in all my studies"... but I'm glad I didn't, I just said, "Pray for me"... He prayed for something far better, that I may become the best Muslim. I hope I become a fraction of the good Muslim that I perceive him to be. I swear I could almost see goodness coming out of him.

A beautiful person, he is. May I become more like him, inshalla.

Current Training and Diet

2006-06-21T17:42:00.000+03:00

Well, last time I went to jordan for 10 days, I lost around 3.5 kg. I had changed my diet by incorporating some things from the Fit 4 Life system. I would wake up and drink hot water and lemon. Half an hour later I'd eat a delicious plate of fruits, and then I'd eat more fruits whenever (if ever) i get hungry again. At 12, I'd drink carrot juice, and then lunch at 1:30 or so. I'd also have my least meal (usually a protein shake with bananas and milk) at 8 or so.

Here in Egypt, It's kinda similar:

Upon waking up, I'd have watermelons or another fruit.

Thirty minutes or so later, I'd have Hemp Protein Powder with either water or fruit juice. That reminds me, I gotta get more fruit juice. The Hemp powder doesn't taste as "delicious" or "nutty" as advertised on the cover, nor does it make me "want to eat it straight out of the bottle". WHY WOULD THEY LIE TO ME? WHY?! There's only 15 servings in the bottle and they're almost finished, so I dont know what im gonna replace it with.

At 12 I'd have a small shake made out of milk, bananas, and dates.

Then at around 3:30 I'd have lunch, which is white beans basically. I'm trying to eat the same dish every single day. Let's see how long I can last. That's what ascetics used to do and i'm trying to get myself used to it, even though i'm not exactly living an ascetic life. But it's good to learn to eat the same food everyday. Plus it's the most beneficial lunch for me as a vegetarian. I stuff myself with as much white beans as possible, and I dont have rice with it.

Then if it's a gym day I sip a post-workout drink (half protein, half carbs) pre and mid-workout (post-workout drinks are actually more effective during and right before a workout). If it's not a gym day I dont have anything. I'm doing Chad Waterbury's Total Body Training, 3 days a week.

Then after I get back home, I either have another smaller serving of the post-workout drink (if it's a gym day), or I have a shake made out of protein powder, milk, bananas, and flax seeds. I only have flax seeds in my shakes on the non-workout days because the fats slow down the protein absorption and when having a shake around a workout the point is to have the fastest absorption possible. I also add a serving of Greens+ to these shakes to help balance the out the acidity of the protein, and simply because it's good for you.

Unlike the Fit 4 Life and what I did in Amman, here in Egypt I might still have my shake at 9 or later, but I dont have anything later than that. That's it, I dont eat much. Sometimes I'd have a small salad or something at night. I should be eating more but i'm having a hard time doing so. As for today, I'm gonna save my shake till late at night, because I'm gonna go to Tabbouleh at 7:30 or so, the best damn Lebanese restaurant in the whole damn world!

Check out this picture from BBC online today:

"A bodybuilder pumps iron during a power blackout at a gym in Baghdad. The sport is a popular one in the war-torn city." BBC

Why the Caged Bird Sings

2006-06-20T17:12:00.000+03:00

Egyptian prisons are a horrible thing, more horrible than you can ever imagine. And I don't mean the normal prisons for criminals, I mean the prisons for suspected terrorists or members of political opposition parties, or any group that threatens the dictatorship of Mubarak. I heard a man describe these places once.. He was claims he became one of the leaders of a large underground Christian movement in Egypt. Mubarak doesn't like religious movements, whether Christian or Muslim. He doesn't like Muslim groups because they threaten his position in power, and he doesn't like Christian movements because they upset the peace and the status quo. So what are such prisons like? In them, every international law is violated, and torture is an art. The Egyptian authorities are so worried about any part of their system being exposed that even the jailers and policemen and torturers in these prisons never use names. They all have numbers by which they call themselves. That way, it is impossible for any prisoner to identify anyone involved. The prisoner described how he was put naked in a room, and had two vicious dogs unleashed on him (until he was saved by a miracle of Jesus). That was what he said, but it was on a Christian televangelist show in Canada, and I dont know how much of the story to trust.

Anyway, today I was in tahreer square, and 6 large trucks full of prisoners passed by. From these trucks, we heard the sound of hundreds of prisoners, all chanting in unison. It was unclear what they were saying, because at the front and the back of the trucks were police cars whose only purpose was to sound their sirens, in order to drown the voices of the prisoners. It was clear that the sirens had no other purpose. There police cars where not attempting to get ahead of other cars, nor did they want anyone to move out of the way. And I could see from the policemen in the cars and the expressions on their faces.. The sirens were at full blast for one reason only: to drown the chants of the prisoners.

I don't know what the prisoners were chanting, all in unison, from six different trucks. All I could hear was "...rasool Allah" ("...the Messenger of Allah"), and later, after many inaudible chants, "we are the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen": We are the Muslim Brothers (The Muslim Brotherhood).

Were they freshly picked up from a protest? A raid? Or where they being moved from one prison to another? No body knows, and I think that no body will ever know. Hundreds of such people are lost in the inner dungeons in Egypt, never to be heard of again. It felt for me like this was their only chance to say anything, to be heard.. the only chance for people to know that they even exist. Being moved from one pit of darkness into another, no one might ever hear from them again. They might just dissapear. I felt like that might be their one last trip in the sunlight, the only time other people might hear what they have to say, might know of their existence. And so they chanted, and they shouted as loud as they can... they chanted in unison, trying to get some message across, trying to raise their voices above the sounds of the police sirens. But ultimately, their voices were drowned. I could hear nothing of what they were trying to say, except that they were of the Muslim Brotherhood. As for their fate, and why they were imprisoned, I doubt anyone got to hear it, and I doubt anyone ever will. Maybe they've been plunged back into the deep dark abyss, into living non-existence.

IMMINENT DANGER OF RENEWED CONFLICT IN SOMALIA

2006-06-18T21:55:00.000+03:00

(Read my first post on the subject first)

Daily arms shipments are arriving in Somalia in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, a senior UN official has told the BBC. ...

...the UN refugee agency has warned that unless a peaceful solution could be found, Somalia's humanitarian problems would "increase tremendously", AFP news agency reported. ...

[Bruno Schiemsky, co-ordinator of the UN Monitoring Group] describes a growing build-up of arms inside Somalia with deliveries coming in by air and by sea on a daily basis. ...

Somalia is struggling to emerge from 15 years of anarchy and violence which have seen it with no functioning government since the overthrow of Siad Barre in 1991. ("UN Fears New Conflict in Somalia")

Last week, UN monitors released a report to the Security Council saying that they were investigating an unnamed country's violation of an arms embargo through clandestine support for a local warlord group.

It is widely believed among officials of Somalia's interim government and U.S Africa policy analysts that this country is the United States. ("Is the U.S. Government Fueling Civil War in Somalia?")

On Saturday, the Islamists complained that Ethiopian troops had crossed into Somalia - a claim denied by Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia has supported the transitional president, and is determined not to see an Islamic state founded in Somalia.

Independent sources are now also saying that about 500 Ethiopian troops are indeed inside Somalia - just east of Baidoa.

With both sides re-arming, and credible reports of foreign troops inside the country, the situation in Somalia looks increasingly grim, the BBC's Martin Plaut says. ("UN Fears New Conflict in Somalia")

America has been equipping the warlords with weapons. These are the very same warlords who have been accommodated in Yusuf’s government as part of a power sharing agreement. These warlords include those who hold the portfolios of security, trade, religion, disarmament and reconstruction. Furthermore the US has also subverted any attempt to interrupt the supply of weapons to both sides. A United Nations report called for a tighter arms embargo on Somalia but this was rejected by the Security Council. The report stated that an unnamed country had been flouting the weapons ban to help local groups fight the Islamic militants. It said that Ethiopia was supplying weapons to Mr Yusuf’s interim government, while Eritrea was arming the Islamists

The American plan is to fragment the country into regions and then encourage the energy laden areas to cede and fall in line with US interests. This bears strong resemblance to America’s plan to divide Sudan. ("The Great Game in Somalia")

May God Protect Somalia from the Terrorists

2006-06-17T13:07:00.000+03:00

For the last 15 years, Somalia has had no effective government. Warlords fought for control of land and power, leaving the country devastated. There was no law, there was only choas, and war, and death. And for the thousands of Somalis dying of starvation, there was little hope of international aid. Why? A representative of a Muslim aid organization that tries to help the Somalis spoke about this on al-Jazeera: trucks carrying food have to pass through tens of checkpoints all throughout Somalia on their way to the lands suffering from starvation, each checkpoint controlled by a different tribe or warlord. At any checkpoint they might be killed or the food taken. It was hopeless. Most aid organizations simply left the food in the main cities and did not dare to take it where it is actually needed, in the lands of the warlords.

Well, now there is hope. For the first time in 15 years, peace and stability and rising. The warlords have been defeated by the Union of Islamic Courts, and things are finally looking up for the country. If they consolidate control over all of Somalia, aid organizations will find it much easier to save the people who are starving.

The Union of Islamic Courts has also imposed Sharia in the capital city of Mogadishu, brining back order and justice to the lands that have been lawless for 15 years.

Residents in the nearby area have reported a drop in robberies, murder and general lawlessness since the court began its work, Radio HornAfrik said. [1]

"The Islamic courts say they want to promote Islamic law rather than clan allegiance, which has divided Somalis over the past 15 years." They have become "the most popular political force in the country". [2].

The residents of Mogadishu are "pleased" to enjoy law and order, in contrast to parts of Somalia still not controlled by the Courts, where crime is rampant. Even those residents who do not want an Islamic goverment are more in favor of having a single group or authority in control, to end the lawlessnes. "And most will prefer Islamic preachers to the warlords who have repeatedly fought over and in many cases systematically looted the city since 1991." [2].

Now the Courts have moved out of Mogadishu to other parts of Somalia and are taking control of one city after another. Their leader, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, is what the west would consider a "moderate" Muslim. [2].

So what's the problem? America has been backing the warlords and does not want to see an Islamic goverment in Somalia. They are endangering the lives of thousands of Somalis and extending the wars and chaos by supporting these warlords.

"The US is behind the latest violence through its financial and military support of warlords and its interference in the country's internal affairs." - Somali Health Minister Abdel Aziz Sheikh Yussef [3]

What's their excuse? They don't want Al-Qaida terrorists to find refuge in Somalia!

Al-Qaida.... In somalia....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

COME ON.

They are holding an international meeting to discuss the situation (American gov't basically chose the countries that it likes and asked them to "discuss" the issue with it). They have not invited any Arab countries to the discussion, and the Arab League is unhappy about being excluded. [4]

On June 16th, thousands of protesters have come out for the second day against US plans to meddle with the country's affairs or talks about sending international troops to take control of the country.

The protesters held placards with slogans such as "open your eyes and ears America, Sharia law is the only solution" (for maintaining law and order).... [5]

I think the following is the best way to view the situation:

Editor of the BBC Somali service Yusuf Garaad Omar says the fact that a single entity controls the capital is a huge opportunity to bring peace to Somalia.

"The Islamic courts and the transitional government need each other," he says. "One is the legal government, the other is a popular force in control of the capital."

But he warns that it is only a step forward on a long road towards the end of war.

He says the Islamic courts are likely to become whatever others want them to be.

If treated with respect - as partners - they could turn into the group which delivers the capital to the government and so end years of conflict.

But if they are viewed as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, that too, could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. [6] (emphasis mine)

Again,

...[Roland Marchal, a Horn of Africa expert from France’s CNRS institute, who recently returned from a trip to Somalia,] said it was essential for the international community to open up channels of communication with the moderate elements in the Islamic courts as soon as possible.

“To cry that this is an al-Qaeda plot will only radicalise the population. We are busy creating an enemy that didn’t exist two months ago.” [7]

So America... keep treating the Union of Islamic Courts as terrorists and extremists, and they will become just what you are accusing them of being. But treat them with respect and allow them their space, and they will most likely work side by side with the transitional goverment to bringing peace to Somalia. After all, they can easily kick out the transitional goverment from their seat of (supposed) power [6], but they dont seem to want to do that. When there is peace, and when people are content, there are no terrorists.

O God, don't let the American gov't screw this up. Don't let them return Somalia to choas and war and suffering and starvation. O God, keep their greedy paws off Somalia. (Yes, this is about resources like Uranium, natural gas, and most importantly: tons and tons of Oil. Read "The Great Game in Somalia") And protect them, O God, from the kind of terrorism that the Iraqi people are suffering at their hands. Amen.

Oil-rich Arab countries: You know that poem, "First they came for..."? By the time they're through raping Palestine and Iraq, then Iran, Syria, and Somalia, they'll be coming for you. Who will help you then?

Gyms and Terrorists

2006-06-11T21:29:00.000+03:00

Well, I'm back in Egypt, and enjoying the World Cup. You know, studies have shown that when the team you're rooting for wins, your testosterone increases, and when they lose it decreases. Well, watching Iran lose 3-1 to Mexico just shut down my test production. But damnit i'm proud of them, they played just as good, and were more dangerous, than the 4th best team in the world (according to FIFA's latest rankings)! But after the second goal by Mexico, caused by a mistake, the Iranians lost it and another goal followed. Oh well.

The teams i'm rooting for are (in that order):

1) Tunisia
2) Iran

Then, after they both lose (gotta be realistic here),

I'm rooting for Sweden. I like their style. Maybe even Japan or Holland but first I gotta see them play cause I only watch soccer during the World Cup and the Euro Cup, and gotta make sure I still like them this time around. My fave team is actually Denmark (for more emotional reasons connected with my childhood and the '92 Euro Cup), but they didnt make it to the World Cup this time. FIFA did recently rank them as number 11 in the world though.

Anyway, was just reading this article... It suggests that Islamic terrorists could be created not in mosques, but in gyms. So seeing as how my devotion to fitness is a big theme in this blog, I thought I should discuss it.

According to the author, the terrorists of 9/11, the Madrid Bombings, and the London Bombings came from different backgrounds and had slightly different ideologies. Yet one thing that they had in common was their "immersion in gym culture."

Three of the London bombers, it seems were fitness fanatics. One of them set up two gyms, and met the second person in command in the gym. A third member was more interested in jujitsu than in going to mosques. In fact, one of the gyms set up by the leader of the London Bombers was known my local Muslims as "The al-Qaeda gym." Even other suspected terrorist cells in London share this enthusiasm for sports, their members being interested in "Camping, canoeing, white-water rafting, paintballing and other outward bound type activities..."

As for one chief suspect of the Madrid bombings, the person who supplied the cellphones that were used to detonate the bombs, he was "a gym loving man" whose friends were shocked to hear he could have any part in the bombings because his main concerns in life were the "gym or the discotèchque." The ringleader of the Madrid bombings seemed to also work out in the gym, where he discussed politics with the other guy.

As for the 9/11 terrorists, the three pilots were very devoted to exercising and keeping fit, and worked out very seriously in the gym. The rest of the 9/11 terrorists apparently went to the gym to become stronger so that they can overpower the airline staff, but barely lifted any weights in the gym and just went there to talk.

Is there something about today's preening and narcissistic gym culture that either nurtures terrorists or massages their self-delusions and desires?

But looking at all this leads me to disagree with the author on his assessment of most the terrorists.

First, the guys who were mentioned last, the 9/11 hijckers, don't count. They truly didnt care about fitness and just went there to talk. They were supposed to work out in order to get stronger so that they could take control of the planes, but they "never push[ed] any weights". We also have the person who supplied cell phone to the Madrid bombers. I'm not sure if that makes him a terrorist really, and he certainly wasnt a Muslim extremist, because he was mainly concerned with going to the disco. Maybe he worked out so that he'd look good in the disco, who knows? The ring leader did work out though, even though it seems that Islam for him was nothing more than a "comfort blanket" (according to the reports and studies done on the terrorists).

So that leaves us with the pilots of 9/11 and the London bombers. Atta seems to have been obsessed with bodily appearance, according to the article. Now the author claims that Atta "embraced a mystical (and pretty much made-up) version of Islam", but that is complete B.S. Atta was NOT a Muslim. He uttered blasphemy which I dare not even hint at. He also loved pork chops, had a stripper for a girlfriend, loved to party, drink and snort coke, and seems to have been some kind of agent, knowing several languages and having ID's for lots of nationalities. I don't know the reason he was involved in 9/11 but it certainly was not related to being a Muslim, which he wasn't. (See for example, "Top Ten Things You Never Knew About Mohamed Atta" and "Mohamed Atta loved pork chops, and 49 other things you may not know") He was just obsessed with looking good, and maybe he was angry because his stripper girlfriend dumped him, for not looking good in swimming shorts and embarassing her (apparently he had a "flanky ass" see "Top Ten Things..").

What does that leave us with? Two of the 9/11 hijackers, about which I can't really tell you, and the London Bombers.

So what does the article say about the London bombers?

They "were into community-based Islam, which emphasized being good and resisting a life of decadence."

Khan (the leader of the group) seemed to view gym and sports activities as more than an opportunity for physical bonding; he also appeared to consider them moral and pure, an alternative to the decadent temptations of contemporary society. Healthy living, as a doctrine, appears to have been close to his radical heart. In Khan's talks to young Muslims and potential recruits, he reportedly made numerous references to keeping fit. His talks "focused on clean living, staying away from crime and drugs, and the value of sport and outdoor activity," says the British government's 7/7 report.

According to the British govt's report on these bombers, three of the four seem to have been radicalized in the gym, not in the mosque!

The author is saying that for these men were dedicated to being fit, to being morally pure and upright. They wanted to stay away from sin and society's decadent temptations... They were focused on clean living, staying healthy, and doing good for the community.

So, according to the author, this led them to see themselves as superior to the decadent society in which they lived. They thought of themselves as real men, pure and upright and healthy, they thought that they were good and that the rest of the people were "rotten".

hmmmm... Does that mean I'm gonna become a terrorist, because I dedicate myself to improving my body and mind and spirit, because I live clean and try to stay away from sin, and to be morally upright.... Does this mean I will start to look down on all those obese, lazy, ignorant, slutty music video -watching people around me and consider them rotten? (Oh wait...Ehm...No no, I really don't.)

Of course, none of this is enough to make a terrorist out of anybody. Sure, these London bombers might have thought that they were superior to the people around them, but that is not enough to make them kill anyone. Had they had a sound and traditional Islamic ideology, they wouldn't go out and kill even a sinful, rotten, corrupt, ignorant kafir. Muslims fight only against soldiers in combat, soldiers do not want a peaceful resolution, for "...if the enemy inclines towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace" (The Quran 8:61). Muslims never kill civilians. Ever. Ultimately, it was their ideology (and whatever psychological issues they had that made them accept these ideologies), that made terrorists out of them.

Of course at the same time, there is some fishy stuff going on, since many of these guys seem to have been more concerned with the gym, jujitsu, the disco, strippers, night clubs, and pork chops than they were in going to the mosque. The Madrid bombers conveniently left their truck in the scene of the crime, complete with a Quran tape in the casette player, and the 9/11 hijackers left us their Quran and flight instruction manual in the car.. and of course, there was the blaspheming secret agent Atta's indestructible passport which survived the plane crash and the massive explosion and was "found" in the debris.

Ah well... I think every Muslim should strive to be healthy and live clean and stay away from sin, and to be active in the Muslim community and to rise above those who only live to satisfy their base desires. Every Muslim should do that, and it will not make a terrorist out of anybody. It is only the wrong ideology that they had that made them terrorists, an ideology that is completely wrong and unacceptable.

Living in the Name of...

2006-06-08T17:10:00.000+03:00

Following is a lesson that I found really helpful in my life and of great benefit. Everytime something is not going well, I remember this lesson, and say Bismillaah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem, and everything starts to go right again! But it should not be an automatic bismillah without thought, but one in which you think about the following lesson and trust in it. It always works, wal-hamdu Lillahi Rabb il-aalameen

Bismillah is the start of all good things, so we shall start with it. This blessed phrase is a mark of Islam, one constantly recited by all creatures through their tongues of disposition. If you want to perceive its inexhaustible source of strength and blessing, consider the following allegory:

Travelers in Arabian deserts must travel under a tribal chief's name and protection, or else they will be bothered by bandits and unable to acquire what they need for the journey. Two people, one humble and the other arrogant, set out on a journey. The humble one obtained the name of a tribal chief; the arrogant one did not. The former traveled everywhere in safety. Whenever he met a bandit, he said: "I am travelling in the name of this chief," and so was left alone. He was treated with respect in every tent he entered. In contrast, the arrogant one suffered disaster and constant fear, for he had to struggle and beg for every need. He became base and vile.

O arrogant soul! You are that traveler, and this world is the desert. Your weakness and poverty are endless, and the enemies and privations to which you are exposed are beyond number. Given this, invoke the name of the Eternal Owner and the Everlasting Ruler of the world, for only this can deliver you from such begging and fear.

Bismillah is a blessed treasure. It transforms your boundless weakness and poverty, by binding you to the Omnipotent and Merciful One's infinite Power and Mercy, into the most heeded intercessor at His Exalted Court. When you say bismillah, you act in His name. You are like a soldier acting in the state's name, fearing no one, doing all things in the name of the law and the state, and persisting against all odds.

- Bedi'uzzaman Said Nursi, Humanity's Encounter with the Divine Series: Humanity, Belief, and Islam, pg 3-5.

James the Muslim

2006-06-07T11:28:00.000+03:00

Since my last post was about Jesus and things, and since I've been reading "The Jesus Papers" lately, my interest has really peaked about James the Just, brother of Jesus (peace be upon him). I remember reading a letter by James in the Bible that started out with him calling himself "the servant of God" (and a footnote saying it also means "the slave of God"), so basically he called himself a abd of Allah. And I remember how there was absolutely no contradiction between that letter and anything in the Qur'an, and that it impressed me highly.

Well, from reading "The Jesus Papers" I found out that James was the successor of Jesus and the leader of their movement, and that they had Paul expelled from the area. Finding most footnotes about James referring to works by Eisenman, I looked up his books on amazon and what I found out from reading about them is that the beliefs of James are pretty much the same as those of Islam. I also found out that Paul attacked James, trying to kill him!

Well, an email came to me in those same very days of high interest in the matter, an email about a new book comparing the teachings of James and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). I haven't read it yet, but I have read many of the writings of its author and I can assure you he is VERY knowledgeable in the Old and New Testaments, having studied them extensively, and is also very knowledgeable in the eastern religious and wisdom traditions. I will definitly recommend this new book of his, and ask as many people as possible to buy a copy to support him and his further research to spread the truth about the teachings of Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him, and how they were distorted by Paul.

You can read this article of his online, showing the debates between Paul and James and how James was upholding the teachings of Jesus, peace be upon him, the teachings of islaam, while Paul was teaching something completely different. It might give you a small taste and hopefully encourage you to read his indepth study of the matter.

(click on the image to see it larger)

The Jesus Papers

2006-06-04T20:59:00.000+03:00

"Don't believe everything you read. But definitely don't just read what you believe." [1]

I found the newly published The Jesus Papers in my father's library, and decided to read it, see what it has to say. Written by Michael Baigent, author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, upon which The Da Vinci Code is based, the book is presenting a new theory: that Jesus did not die on the cross.

... wa qawlihim innaa qatalnal masiha Isa-bna Maryama rasula Llahi wa ma qataluhu wa ma salabuhu wa-lakin shubbiha lahum. (Qur'an 4:157)

The above verse says that the Jews did not kill God's messenger, the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary. It also says, wa ma salabuhu: and they did not crucify him, wa-lakin shubbiha lahum: but it was made to appear to them as such.

According to the traditional Sunni Islam point of view, what happened was that God took Jesus up to him, and by a miracle made the traitor Judas look like Jesus, so that he would be crucified instead as punishment for what he did. This is in NEITHER Qur'an nor Hadith, just conjecture or legend. It could also be a different interpretation of shubbiha lahum, instead of "it was made to appear so to them" it could also be interpreted as someone looking like Jesus in their eyes. (See the Gospel of Barnabas for a detailed account of what happened according to the traditional Islamic version of the story).

One thing I like about this theory is that it explains the "God why have you forsaken me?" which makes absolutely no sense if Jesus had come with the intention of dying on the cross for the sake of men. According to this version, it is Judas who is asking God- the God whose true religion he believed he was protecting- why he has forsaken him and let the false messiah Jesus live.

So they led him to Mount Calvary, where they used to hang malefactors, and there they crucified him naked; for the greater ignominy. *Judas truly did nothing else but cry out: 'God, why have you forsaken me, seeing the malefactor has escaped and I die unjustly?' *Truly I say that the voice, the face, and the person of Judas were so like to Jesus, that his disciples and believers entirely believed that he was Jesus; wherefore some departed from the doctrine of Jesus, believing that Jesus had been a false prophet, and that by art magic he had done the miracles which he did: for Jesus had said that he should not die till near the end of the world; for that at that time he should be taken away from the world.

But they that stood firm in the doctrine of Jesus were so encompassed with sorrow, seeing him die who was entirely like to Jesus, that they remembered not what Jesus had said. [5]

"And (the Jews) planned and God also planned and God is the best of planners. When Allah said, "O Jesus, I will take you and raise you in My presence and save you from those who disbelieve..." (Qur'an 3:54-55)

Personally, I'm not sure about this "taking him up" interpretation by the majority of the Muslims, because the heavens and the spiritual realm are not a physical place to which Jesus could go to in his body (and God knows best), nor is God up in the sky somewhere. Maybe it was his spirit that was taken "up", and maybe it took place later, after he died a normal death.

The Qur'an mentions the death of Jesus when it quotes him saying,

"Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! (Qur'an 19:33).

But according to the majority Muslim view, this death is after the return of Jesus before the end times, when he will return to earth, fight against the Antichrist, establish peace on earth, live and then die.

The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam believe that Jesus remained alive after the supposed crucifiction and died a natural death. I would also like to quote from a very intersting little chapter from the Inspirations of Shaykh Badruddin of Simawna (d. 1420), translated and interpreted by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak (I think this includes the Shaikh Bayrak's commentary as well). I do not necessarily believe it, but I think it is plausible.

The prophet Jesus, may Allah bless his soul, is always alive in spirit, but his blessed body is dead and gone. His spirituality exceeds his physical existence, for his spirit is from Allah. Since spirit is contained within the body and the body disappears at death, the ones who think that physical being is in the image of the soul and that the two are inseparable, claim that he did not die.

Everything that is created dies. The soul of Jesus (upon him be peace), which is from Allah, is alive, for it is eternal. When the soul rises from the body at death, the coarse matter of the body is left behind. The body indeed is a materialized reflection of the soul, but its form and shape are related to and in harmony with the realm of appearances of this world and will stay in it when the soul leaves it.

The ones who believe that Allah raised Jesus to heaven body and soul say that Jesus (upon him be peace) will return to this world and will live the life of a man, will have a family and children. But Allah raised his soul to Him.

As his enemies planned to destroy him, Allah planned to save him.

"And (the Jews) planned and God also planned and God is the best of planners. When Allah said, "O Jesus, I will take you and raise you in My presence and save you from those who disbelieve..." (Qur'an 3:54-55)

His being was raised in a spiritual ascension cleansed of the natural elements of this world. Allah says,

And for their saying, "We have killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah," and they killed him not, nor did they cause his death on the cross, but he was made to appear to them as such." (Qur'an 4:157)

He was saved from the cross and lived his natural life amongst his people, and his physical being died a natural death. As Allah quotes him,

I was a witness of them as long as I was among them. But when You did cause me to die, You were the watcher over them." (Qur'an 5:117)

The traditional view, however, is that here tawaffaytani means "took me back" and not "caused me to die". Nowadays the word is used exclusively in the sense of death. Note also that the Prophet Muhammad said,

...Then [on the Day of Resurrection] I will say as the pious servant Jesus, son of Mary, said: 'And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them. When you caused me to die ('tawaffaytani') you were the watcher over them, and you are a witness to all things...' (Sahih Bukhari)

BUT this does not deny the possibility that the word means "when You took me back to You" in the case of the Prophet, as death means the return to Allah (swt). The difference in the meanings is only important in the case of Jesus (pbuh) because we know he didn't die on the cross, so does it mean he returned to God right there and then (without having physically died) or that he continued to live and then died?

Anyway, Shaikh Badruddin continues,

In reality his return is a moral and spiritual one.

They say that his coming will be close to the apocalypse. Some of the signs of the coming of the end are:

* that the sun will rise from the west;
* that there will be an invasion of the Yellow People;
* God and Magog will appear;
* Dabbat al-Ard, a miraculous creature, and the Mahdi, will appear'
* Dajjal, the Antichrist, will come to rule the world, and Jesus, in his second coming, will slay him.

All these signs are here now and always were. So is the spiritual and moral presence of Jesus, combating Dajjal.

Dajjals are the people of all times whose lives are consecrated to being worldbound. They are the tyrants who have reached high stations, arrogant ones claiming to be owners and rulers of others.

Dajjal is the manifestation of the false reality of the world. He is blind in the right eye- thus, he cannot see the truth. Allah says:

The ones who are blind to the truth in this world will not see their Lord in the Hereafter.

Jesus (upon him be peace) is the manifestation of the truth. His combat with the Dajjal is the fight between wordly rationalization and wisdom, the battle between truth and falsehood. [2]

Baigent says that the Vatican has documents that prove Jesus was alive in 45 CE, a decade after his supposed death, but that he has no proof of this. [3]

"Baigent says he’s breaking his silence because he’s seen and held shocking documents, including two he named his book after, calling them 'The Jesus Papers.' " [4]

He says these papers were discovered by a rich Israeli businessman, a wealthy collector who bought a home in the Old City of Jerusalem, under which he excavated, and found the letters. They are from 34 C.E, written by a man who called himself the Messiah of the Children of Israel.

"They were answers to a charge made by the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had been accusing someone of claiming that he was god. This someone wrote back in his defense. And this Messiah was writing back to the Sanhedrin saying in effect, 'No no no, I’m not saying that I’m god. I’m saying that I’m filled with the spirit of god.'"

If these letters are real, Baigent contends it would mean Jesus was saying he was an ordinary man and not divine. But Baigent admits he can’t back up his claim.

...

"The Vatican asked [the Israeli businessman] to destroy them. But he refused. But he did promise that he would keep them under wraps for 25 years. Now when I met with him, he had long passed the 25 year mark." [4]

According to Baigent, there is another document proving that Jesus was alive in 45 CE that was found in France. The document has long been destroyed, but some of the priests who have seen it left clues- clues that we can all see and evaluate ourselves- telling us that Jesus did not die on the cross. See the 4th footnote for more details.

So what happened if Jesus was not crucified?

Well, according to the clues left by these priests, and a detailed study of the Bible, Jesus made a deal with the Romans. They drugged him so that he doesnt lose too much blood from the crucifiction, crucified him for a very short time (compared to other cruficitions, as death by crucifiction takes a much longer time), and then at night he was brought down and healed and medicated. (Sadiq Alam made a blog about this recently, examining some quotations from the Bible that suggest Jesus was not crucified. See also footnote 3 for more details on Baigent's theory of how it took place).

Another theory is that someone else was cruficied in his place, someone that they made to look like him.

Baigent also argues that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, but that's highly improbable and most scholars believe this to be ridiculous. Dan Brown argues that as a Jew he must have been married, but according to scholars, as a member of the Essene sect, he would have been single. Also I doubt all those other Gospels are so far off the mark on something so large and so obvious to the thousands of people at the time. Of course anything about Jesus' progeny becoming kings in France is complete rubbish.

Well, while I most likely will not agree with much of what Baigent has to say, I think much of it is also in line with the traditional Islamic account and makes sense. I'm starting to think that Jesus might have stayed alive and died a normal death years after the supposed cruci-fiction, and then his spirit returned to God. And God knows best.

Even though I do not believe the gospel of Barnabas to be a "true" gospel, I would like to end this blog with the last paragraph of that gospel, because it is a fitting ending:

After Jesus had departed, the disciples scattered through the different parts of Israel and of the world, and the truth, hated of Satan, was persecuted, as it always is, by falsehood. For certain evil men, pretending to be disciples, preached that Jesus died and rose not again. Others preached that he really died, but rose again. Others preached, and yet preach, that Jesus is the Son of God, among whom is Paul deceived. But we - as much as I have written - we preach to those that fear God, that they may be saved in the last day of God's Judgment. Amen. [6]

------
1. Elite coach Mike Boyle to Alwyn Cosgrove
2. Inspirations on the Path of Blame. A commentary by Shaikh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti on the Inspirations of Shaikh Badruddin of Simawna. Pg 147-149.
3. The Black Iris of Jordan: On the Jesus Papers
4. Dateline NBC: The Mystery of 'The Jesus Papers'
5. Gospel of Barnabas. Judas Scourned and Mocked
6. Gospel of Barnabas. Jesus Carried Up to Heaven

Brief note on the Gospel of Barnabas: It seems to have been written in the Middle Ages by a European convert to Islam, but it is based on ancient Ebionite and Carmelite writings, and so reflects the beliefs of ancient Christian sects. It might even include the actual Gospel of Barnabas, but with many changes and forged chapters added to it. This also explains why the gospel is at odds with Islam on many things. Ebionites share many beliefs with Islam but differ in many others. I only quote it because I like these passages, but of course they are not evidence of anything since the gospel is a forgery. Full discussion here.

The Rich & The Pauper

2006-06-04T18:02:00.000+03:00

Today vs the past.

King Hussein Mosque

2006-06-02T18:35:00.000+03:00

Went today for Jum'a prayer at the new King Hussien Mosque, the largest (and i think most beautiful) mosque in Jordan.

man, the adhan was so beautiful. it was... i can't describe it. it was so beautiful and yet so heartbreaking. i was never moved so much by an adhan before..

subhanallah. subhannallah. I had only intended to go there once, to check out the place. But I intend to go next friday as well, inshalla, only for the sake of hearing that adhan. In fact, I wish everyone could hear that adhan once before they die. At least, I wish extremists would hear this adhan, that maybe it would remove some of the hardness from their hearts.

(pic from http://gurry.jeeran.com/archive/2006/4/40775.html)

apparently jordan celebrated its 60th year of independence last week, so the khutba was about how important it is to love the country.. of the things that the khutba mentioned:

1) to love the county is to be proud to work for it, and to do anything you can for its advancement. it means not to stay away from any jobs, there is no such thing as a shameful profession. (there is a big problem in jordan that people do not want to work in "shameful" professions like construction, cleaning the streets, etc.. all these are left to tens of thousands of Egyptians, while there is a large amount of unemployment in Jordan.

2) to be kind to everyone in the country, and to help them, and think of them as your brothers. Whether or not they are of the same religion, they are still your brothers as the sons of Adam. The khatib then related a story of a man who needed something from the Caliph Muawiya. At the gate, he was asked who he was, and told the guards that he was Muawiya's brother. They let him enter, and Muawiya said, "I was told that my brother wanted to see me, and you are not my brother, so who are you?" The man replied, "I am your brother from Adam", and Muawiya honored him for that reply and gave him what he asked for.

3) how the Prophet loved his hometown of Mecca, and how he departed from it in sadness, but Allah revealed to him a verse assuring him that he shall return to it.

4) how Jordan is a country that has been doing a lot for improving the world's perception of Islam, and has held many meetings of muslim delegations for the benefit of Islam. Therefore we should love the country and appreciate its leadership.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/42497497@N00/142626931/)

Now the mosque is near a military base, and a huge section of those praying there were military men. What is really strange, and sad, is that we have so many overweight officers! What kind of military is this? Why's everyone so fat? (well ok, not everone). But i noticed this also with police men, or at least the higher-level officers... they're usually overweight.

Jordan, Nutrition

2006-06-01T10:39:00.000+03:00

well, i'm here, alhamdulillah,

The trip was nice and short, and I read from The Hundred Letters of Sharafuddin Maneri, a great Sufi master and founder of the Firdausi order in India. The Firdausi order is a relatively small order in India, eclisped by the more famous orders like the Chishti and Qadiri, Naqshbandi, etc.. Yet this book, and this shaykh who wrote this book, have left disproportionately large effect, subhanallah, it won great fame and respect, and this shaykh is possibly the one sufi shaykh in India who is respected the most by Muslims and Hindus combined (well there's also Kabir).

I know i had said i would be reading Prayer Fashions Man, a collection of writings by Frithjof Schuon, but I put it back in the shelf when a small book that I had ordered arrived, called Thrive. It's a tiny book written by a Brendan Brazier, a vegan professional athlete, talking about how to thrive on a vegan diet. It didnt try to convince anyone to be vegan, it assumes you're already vegan. While i'm not vegan, i learned some very important principles from that book that I will try to adhere to as much as possible. In the same way, discussion with Lucky convinced me to read "Fit For Life" which I found lying around in my father's library. Again, I dont plan to follow it as it is, but I'm sure I will benefit a lot from reading it and incorporate some of its ideas into my nutrition plan.

I'm not sure how often I'll be writing in this blog, cause now that I'm here I might start filling up my Notes blog with quotes and pieces of info that I think i might make use of later, from some of the books I have here in Jordan.

And finally, I want to share something with you... something very special to my heart. It's an experience that I had when I arrived yesterday from the airport, an experience I have everytime I come to Jordan... It's something I call the Elixir of Joy, the Coolness of the Eyes, the Scent of Layla, the Balsam of the Body, the Red Sulphur of the Soul, and the Incontestable Proof of God!

Short Trip

2006-05-30T22:48:00.000+03:00

well, going to Jordan tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon. Just a 10-day trip, inshalla. Just to visit family, see friends, detox my body from this cairo pollution, buy some supplements.. I also think i'll be swimming a lot every day, inshalla, to get all the tense muscles relaxed and the spine and everything, just in case some parts of me are tighter than others, swimming should reverse things and make everything right again (inshalla).

i'll still be writing some stuff from there (inshalla).

wassalam.

The Amazing Race

2006-05-28T11:40:00.000+03:00

Truly the Righteous (abraar) will be in Bliss...They are given to drink of a sealed nectar. Its seal is musk, and for that let the competitors compete. (Qur'an 83: 22-26)

One of the best ways for Muslims to stay on track with all their duties, and to do more than what is required, is to think of it as a friendly competition. Sayyidna Abu Bakr and Sayyidna Umar, may God be pleased with them, always competed for good deeds. Abu Bakr would always win, and Umar would try to catch up to him- whether in charity or in extra devotions, Umar would constantly try to find out how much Abu Bakr is doing and try to match him. It's a great way to win the pleasure and the Ridwan of Allah.

Race one with another for forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whereof the breadth is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers. Such is the bounty of Allah, which He bestoweth upon whom He will, and Allah is of Infinite Bounty. (Qur'an 57: 21)

As one Shaykh puts it, better than I:

...when one carefully looks at peoples’ behavior, he will notice different kinds of competition. Some people do compete over this mundane world as to conquer and hold it in their possession; some compete over the attainment of high positions; some compete to achieve fame and stardom and some compete on building luxurious houses just as if this world is an everlasting one.

Let us leave those people moving directionlessly in their fake pleasures, and ponder over a better and sublime competition; a competition that is encouraged by the Glorious Qur’aan. It is a race towards the Pleasure of Allaah and the Paradise, a competition in the field of righteous deeds. It is a competition in which the participants are wise people who are aware that this life is short hence they compete with one another in investing their lives in acts of obedience to Allaah.

“The Mufarridoon have gone ahead!", said the Prophet one time to his companions. "Who are the Mufarridoon, O Messenger of Allaah?", they asked. “They are those men and women who remember Allaah much.”

He also said,

“Should I teach something with which you can catch up with those who have gone ahead of you and outstrip those who are behind you and none will be better than you except the one who does as you do?’ They said: ‘Yes! O Messenger of Allaah!’ He said: ‘You should glorify Allaah, praise Him, and exalt Him 33 times at the end of every prayer.” (Subhan'Allah x 33, Al hamdu lillah x 33, Allahu Akbar x 33).

"Were people to know the blessing of pronouncing the Adhaan and the standing in the first row in prayer, they would even draw lots to secure these privileges. And were they to realize the reward of performing Salaat early, they would race for it; and were they to know the merits of the Isha and the Fajr Salaat, they would come to them even if they had to crawl."

Competing for these rewards is a great thing, something that the the sahaaba always tried to do... None of them were content to do simply what was required of them. Instead, they wanted to be ahead, to gain the highest rewards in Paradise, and be raised to the highest degrees. If they saw others surpassing them in good deeds, they would do all that they could to catch up or outstrip them.

Some poor companions came to the Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) one day and asked him of what they could do to be ahead of the rich in terms of reward.

They said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah! The rich people have made away with rewards. They pray as we do, fast as we do and spend their excess wealth in charity, and they free slaves.’

He answered: ‘Has Allaah not provided for you what you can do charity with? Indeed, every glorification (Subhaanallaah) that you do is charity, every exaltation (Allaahu Akbar) that you do is charity, every praise that you give (Alhamdulillaah) is charity, every ‘Laailaaha illa Allaah’ that you say is charity, enjoining what is good is charity, preventing evil is charity and even doing marital intercourse with one’s spouse is charity.’

They said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah! How can we enjoy ourselves and still get reward for it?’

He replied: ‘Tell me, if he does it in an unlawful way, is it not going to be a sin? Likewise is when he does it in a lawful way, he is going to get a reward for that.”

The Prophet told them also to do the dhikr in the way mentioned above, thirty three times each for Subhanallaah, Alhamdulillaah, Allaahu Akbar after every prayer.

So, the poor began to catch up with the rich in rewards, by doing the dhikr after prayer, by trying their best to forbid what is wrong and to enjoin what is right. And realize also that dhikr does not only benefit oneself- it is also considered a sadaqa, charity, because every act of worship benefits all of humanity and not just the person who is worshipping. (I wonder, though, if someone tried to catch up in rewards by giving lots of pleasure to his wife). And what do you think happened when the rich people- already ahead of the poor because of giving in charity and the freeing of the slaves- what do you think they did when they found out that the poor are doing this dhikr that the Prophet promised would make them "overtake those who have preceeded them and outstrip those who were behind them and make them better than all except those who do the same"?

The rich started doing this dhikr as well! Why? Because they were not content to just make it to Paradise, because the companions of the Prophet wanted to reach the highest degrees, and no less! So the poor went back and complained to the Prophet, saying: "Our brothers who possess property heard about what we were doing and they have done the same." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "That is a favour which Allah gives to anyone He wills."

Even for martyrdom the companions competed. Before the Battle of Badr, Sa'd ibn Kaythamah drew lots with his father to see who will go out to fight and who will stay to take care of the women and the children. Sa'd won the lot for battle, but his father said, "My son, give me preference over yourself today". Sa'd replied, "If it was for other than Paradise, I would have", and so he went out to battle, hoping to get the reward of martyrdom, and gained his wish.

Before the Expedition of Tabuk, the Prophet asked his companions to donate all that they could as charity to fund the expedition. Umar found this was his chance to surpass Abu Bakr. "Today, I am going to surpass Abu Bakr," he thought. "So I came with half of my property", as he later told. "The Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) asked: 'What have you left for your family?' I answered: ‘As much as this.’ Then Abu Bakr came with all that he has and the Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) said: ‘What have you left for your family?’ He replied: ‘I left for them Allaah and his Messenger.’ "

I remember this story that a shaykh related one day. Knowing about the competition between Umar and Abu Bakr for good deeds, the Prophet teased Umar once, saying to him: "You will be the one to open the gates of Paradise". "But what about Abu Bakr?" asked Umar. "Abu Bakr and I will be waiting for you inside!" said the Prophet.

And even the generation that came after the sahaaba, the taabi'een, would attempt to catch up with those who went before them. They thought of their egos, their nafs, as riding animals, which one must tame and ride in the pursuit of good deeds, and in the attempt to join with the Messenger of God in Paradise. So they would say:

“The Sahaaba rode behind the Prophet (pbuh) on the backs of perfectly bred race horses and we are riding on the backs of lame donkeys."

Then they would address their own nafs, saying: "Do you then want to hamper our movement so that they (the sahaaba) can win the Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) while we remain on the way? By Allaah, we shall meet up with them even though we have to crawl so that they will know that those they left behind are really men.”

In this way, hopefully I will start to compete with my friends in everything.. In doing what is required of me, and in exceeding that.

"have you done all your prayers on time today"?
"yeah, and I did the zuhr sunna prayers as well!"
"oh yeah? Well i'm gonna do all the sunna prayers, inshalla."
"well, i'm gonna try to do all my prayers in congregation at the mosque."
"I'm also memorizing the Qur'an."
"Where have you reached? I'm beginning my second juz' already".
"GRRRR!!!"

etc, etc.

Perhaps then, if I turn my ego into a well-trained horse, I could race on ahead and catch up with some of those who went before me, so that I may drink from the raheeq makhtoom, the sealed nectar reserved for the abraar "...and for that let the competitors compete."

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Lots of what I quoted came from this link: Competing for the Hereafter...

Looking back at History

2006-05-23T23:05:00.000+03:00

I love history. Sometimes I'm just gonna post ancient writings here, just for fun. Today, for example, I'm gonna post some writings with one theme: how different civilizations saw each other a long time ago.

First: The Armenian History attributed to Sebeos, written in the middle of the 7th century, and providing the only substantial non-Muslim account of the initial period of Muslim expansion. This is how the Armenians saw the Muslim expansion (you can see how Sebeos is combining the Islamic conquests, which came after the death of the Prophet, with the message of the Prophet, which is not entirely true):

At that time a certain man from among those same sons of Ismael whose name was Mahmet, a merchant, as if by God's command appeared to them as a preacher [and] the path of truth. He taught them to recognize the God of Abraham, especially because he was learned and informed in the history of Moses. Now because the command was from on high, at a single order they all came together in unity of religion. Abandoning their vain cults, they turned to the living God who had appeared to their father Abraham. So Mahmet legislated for them: not to eat carrion, not to drink wine, not to speak falsely, and not to engage in fornication. He said, "With an oath God promised this land to Abraham and his seed after him for ever. And he brought about as he promised during that time while he loved Israel. But now you are the sons of Abraham, and God is accomplishing his promise to Abraham and his seed for you. Love sincerely only the God of Abraham, and go and seize your land which God gave to your father Abraham. No one will be able to resist you in battle, because God is with you."

The Franks and Their Marital Jealousy, an excerpt from the celebrated autobiography of the amir of Shaizar, Usama bin Munqidh, whose life spanned almost the whole first century of the crusades.

The Franks are without any vestige of a sense of honour and jealousy. If one of them goes along the street with his wife and meets a friend, this man will take the woman's hand and lead her aside to talk, while the husband stands by waiting until she has finished her conversation. If she takes too long about it, he leaves her with the other man and goes on his way. Here is an example of this from my personal experience: while I was in Nablus I stayed with a man called Mu'izz, whose house served as an inn for Muslim travellers. Its windows overlooked the street. On the other side of the road lived a Frank who sold wine for the merchants; he would take a bottle of wine from one of them and publicize it, announcing that such-and-such a merchant had just opened a hogshead of it, and could be found at such-and-such a place by anyone wishing to buy some; '...and I will give him the first right to the wine in this bottle'.

Now this man returned home one day and found a man in bed with his wife. 'What are you doing here with my wife?' he demanded. 'I was tired,' replied the man, 'and so I came in to rest.' 'And how do you come to be in my bed?' 'I found the bed made up, and lay down to sleep.' 'And this woman slept with you, I suppose?' 'The bed,' he replied, 'is hers. How could I prevent her getting into her own bed?' 'I swear if you do it again I shall take you to court!' - and this was his only reaction, the height of his outburst of jealousy!

I heard a similar case from a bath attendant called Salim from Ma'arra, who worked in one of my father's bath-houses. This is his tale: I earned my living in Ma'arra by opening a bath-house. One day a Frankish knight came in. They do not follow our custom of wearing a cloth round their waist while they are at the baths, and this fellow put out his hand, snatched off my loin-cloth, and threw it away. He saw at once that I had just recently shaved my pubic hair. [For those who don't know, Muslim men and women usually shave their armpit and pubic hair every 30-40 days for cleanliness, upon the recommendation of the Prophet]. 'Salim!' he exclaimed. I came toward him and he pointed to that part of me. 'Salim! It's magnificent! You shall certainly do the same for me!' And he lay down flat on his back. His hair there was as long as his beard. I shaved him, and when he had felt the place with his hand and found it agreeably smooth he said: 'Salim, you must certainly do the same for my Dama.' In their language Dama means lady, or wife. He sent his valet to fetch his wife, and when they arrived and the valet had brought her in, she lay down on her back, and he said to me: 'Do to her what you did to me.' so I shaved her pubic hair, while her husband stood by watching me. Then he thanked me and paid me for my services.

You will observe a strange contradiction in their character: they are without jealousy or a sense of honour, and yet at the same time they have the courage that as a rule springs only from the sense of honour and a readiness to take offence.

In the year 1260, Hulegu Khan sent a letter with his envoys to the Mamluks in Egypt. The Mongols back then had Persian viziers with whom they most likely consulted when writing the letter, and so they, despite not being Muslims, quoted two Qur'anic verses in their letter. In the end, the Mamluks refused to surrender, and the great wali of Allah, the Sultan of the Scholars, al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam, told Qutuz that he guaranteed them their victory if they marched against the Mongols. This comforted the Mamluks who knew of the many barakas with which this great aalim was blessed, and they marched out against the Mongols. They won, and it was the first time the Mongols ever lost a battle. Remember, Hulegu was NOT a Muslim and does not believe in the Supreme King and divine guidance or that he was sent by God to punish the sinners..

Here is the Letter from Hulagu to the Mamluks:

From the King of Kings in the East and the West, the mighty Khan:

In your name, O God, You who laid out the earth and raised the skies.

Let al-Malik al-Muzaffar Qutuz, who is of the race of mamluks who fled before our swords into this country, who enjoyed its comforts and then killed its rulers, let al-Malik al-Muzaffar Qutuz know, as well as the amirs of his state and the people of his realms, in Egypt and in the adjoining countries, that we are the army of God on His earth. He created us from His wrath and urged us against those who incurred His anger. In all lands there are examples to admonish you and to deter you from challenging our resolve. Be warned by the fate of others and hand over your power to us before the veil is torn and you are sorry and your errors rebound upon you. For we do not pity those who weep, nor are we tender to those who complain. You have heard that we have conquered the lands and cleansed the earth of corruption and killed most of the people. Yours to flee; ours to pursue. And what land will shelter you, what road save you; what country protect you? You have no deliverance from our swords, no escape from the terror of our arms. Our horses are swift in pursuit, our arrows piercing, our swords like thunderbolts, our hearts like rocks, our numbers like sand. Fortresses cannot withstand us; armies are of no avail in fighting us. Your prayers against us will not be heard, for you have eaten forbidden things and your speech is foul, you betray oaths and promises, and disobedience and fractiousness prevail among you. Be informed that your lot will be shame and humiliation. "Today you are recompensed with the punishment of humiliation, because you were so proud on earth without right and for your wrongdoing" [Qur'an 46:20]. "Those who have done wrong will know to what end they will revert" [Qur'an 26:227]. Those who make war against us are sorry; those who seek our protection are safe. If you submit to our orders and conditions, then your rights and your duties are the same as ours. If you resist you will be destroyed. Do not, therefore, destroy yourselves with your own hands. He who is warned should be convinced that you are evil-doers. God, who determines all, has urged us against you. Before us, your many are few and your mighty ones are lowly, and your kings have no way to us but that of shame. Do not debate long, and hasten to give us an answer before the fires of war flare up and throw their sparks upon you. Then you will find no dignity, no comfort, no protector, no sanctuary. You will suffer at our hands the most fearful calamity, and your land will be empty of you. By writing to you we have dealt equitably with you and have awakened you by warning you. Now we have no other purpose but you. Peace be with us, with you, and with all those who follow the divine guidance, who fear the consequences of evil, and who obey the Supreme King.

Say to Egypt, Hulegu has come,
with swords unsheathed and sharp.
The mightiest of her people will become humble,
he will send their children to join the aged.

Meltdown, Day 4

2006-05-21T23:34:00.000+03:00

I...Am... A Monster...

I eat warriors for dinner.

These thoughts were going through my head, while I was sitting in the gym locker room. Just sitting there, silent, immobile, contemplating. I thought about how close I had come to throwing up, and how on my last set, I literally saw tens and tens of colorful stars popping up all around me... twinkling for some 30 seconds. They kept increasing, and I had taken that as a sign that I was about to faint. But I didn't. I was sitting there, thinking. I had just pushed my body to the maximum limit of what it can endure. My forearm muscles were so exhaused i could barely hold the pen to write down the numbers on the paper. I was thinking of how long it took me to drink that protein shake, and how i could barely finish half of it cause my body was too beat. I almost threw it all up. I was thinking, now that the first week of Meltdown was over, how I'm supposed to increase my mega-sets from 3 to 4. How is that physically possible? My brain was having a hard time even accepting that such a thing is possible. But I was proud of what I had just pushed myself through. I am a monster. I eat warriors for dinner.

But then, I thought to myself, "If I can push myself into such extremes, and if I am willing to put myself through so much pain, then how come I can't even push myself to do all my prayers on time? And that's not even counting fajr!" Even a little girl can get herself to do all the prayers on time, and I can't. I'm no monster. I'm no warrior. I'm weaker than a little girl.

"Is there anything wrong?", asked the locker room attendant, while tapping me on the shoulder. I realized I've just been sitting there, in the locker room, for 10 minutes. Not changing my clothes... Just sitting there, silently thinking to myself what I just wrote above, just trying to breathe normally. I didn't even know how to answer his question. I couldn't even begin to express how tired I was... but I didn't need to, because he saw that I can't even answer him, and I just gave a small laugh at my inability to answer him, and at the pain I was going through. And he laughed as he understood. Then, I got myself to answer him, saying: "if only you've just been through what I've just been through.." but I couldn't get myself to finish the sentence, the "you'd know what's wrong"...

"No thanks," he said while laughing, "it's hard enough for me what I do, bringing people towels and water."

Meltdown, day 3

2006-05-17T18:59:00.000+03:00

DAMN YOU DON ALESSI. DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

Early Inscriptions from the Sahaba

2006-05-17T10:15:00.000+03:00

Inscriptions from Mount Sal`, Medina. This is where the Prophet placed most of the Muslim army during the Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq). (The inscriptions however, if their dating is correct, are from two years before the battle).

There's two sets of inscriptions, large ones on the right, which were written later, and smaller ones on the left. The large inscriptions on the right are cut off and we can only read words or phrases like "Wise" and "Bakr" and "Umar son of.." The ones on the left say the following:

You can see that "Talib" and "Muadh" and "Sulayman" are spelled in the archaic style of Arabic writing that has changed after the arabic script evolved in Abbasid times. This way of spelling did not change for many words in the Qur'an (such as rahman and others), because the Muslims did not want to add anything to the Qur'an, not even a new letter for the sake of spelling. But it has evolved in all non-Qur'anic words, and we now spell "Talib" and "Muadh" differently. Even "Sulayman" is now spelled differently- in non-Quranic texts- than how it is spelled in the Qur'an and in this inscription.

Some feet below this rock there are other inscriptions such as:

"May God accept Umar!
May God treat Umar with forgiveness!"

and

"May God make Umar of the people of Paradise..."

Professor Hamidullah is of the opinion that it may be the handwriting of `Umar himself as `Umar was known for his calligraphic skills.

George Miles asserts that these inscriptions are from 1st century of Hijra but associating them to `Umar's own hand is a bit tenuous.

However, Safadi dates this inscription to c. 4 AH (or c. 625 CE).

Islamic-Awareness.org

-----------------------
I tried looking up some of these names. Disregarding the ones I know like Muhammad ibn Abdallah (pbuh), Ali ibn Abi Talib (r.a) or Sa'd ibn Muadh, I only found two:

Umarah son of Hazm:

One day when they were digging the Ditch before the Battle of the Trench the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, and Abu Bakr and Umar stood guard over him keeping the labourers away so that he could sleep in peace. Zayd b. Thabit, who was just sixteen and preparing for his first experience of battle, also fell asleep. Umarah b. Hazm played a practical joke on him, stealing his clothes and tools, and hiding them. Thus Zayd earned the nickname Abu Ruqad ("the Sleepy One").

M[uslim] son of Awsajah: Fought with al-Husayn in Karbala at the age of 70!

The Soul's Best Companion

2006-05-15T20:29:00.000+03:00

I finished Martin Lings' Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. I have two more sira books to read (but not right now): Muhammad by Yahiya Emerick, and Dr. Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti's The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography- the english translation. I'm not sure if that's the best translation of the title. You see, fiqh means both "understanding" and "jurisprudence". In this case, it applies to both. At the end of every chapter there is an analysis of the events, and lessons are learned and we are told how jurists have come to make certain rulings based on such and such events. So it's both a deeper understanding of the Prophetic biography and an explanation of the jurisprudence based on the biography.

Oh yeah, I also need to buy ash-Shifa by Qadi Iyad (translated by Aisha Bewley). I should read the arabic versions one day I suppose but for now I'm reading the english. I've also read Allama Shibli Nu'mani's biography of the Prophet some 3 years ago. It's the longest and most indepth one (5 volumes) but the translation is horrible and full of typos and all kinds of mistakes. I also need to get the audio CD's of Amr Khalid's recounting of the biography which he did this Ramadan, In the Footsteps of the Beloved. He tells it so good he makes you cry in shame of your laziness in comparison to the companions of the Prophet (pbuh), and in love of the Prophet.

"Without doubt, whenever you sit with someone and are with him, you will take on his disposition. On whom have you been gazing that tightness should have come into you? If you look at green herbs and flowers, freshness will come. The sitting companion pulls you into his own world. That is why reciting the Koran purifies the heart, for you remember the prophets and their states. The form of the prophets comes together in your spirit and becomes its sitting companion."

- Shams Tabrizi

Here, Shams is explaining the benefit of making the Qur'an our constant sitting companion, so that we begin to take in the form and disposition of the prophets, to have them mixed into our souls.. so we can become more like them.

Personally, I believe it is more important to make the Prophetic biography our constant sitting companion. If reading about the Prophets in the Qur'an makes us more like them, then reading about Allah's beloved will make us more like him, peace be upon him. The more we read about him, the more we understand the way he thought. The more we see how he dealt with certain situations, the more we begin to act like him in similar situations. The more we see his personality, the more we take on his attributes and his personality.

And by understanding the Prophet's life, and the Prophet's character, we will arrive at a better understanding of the Qur'an. Furthermore, by studying the sira, we learn why this or that verse of the Qur'an was revealed and when, and we gain a deeper understanding of the Qur'an. By making the biography of the Prophet our constant sitting companion, we become far better Muslims because we understand the Qur'an better, and the vessel who carried this Qur'an to us.

Sayyida Aisha (r.a) was asked about the Prophet's character, peace be upon him. She said, "His character was that of the Qur'an." The Prophet, as the vessel of the Qur'an, in a way was the Qur'an. It was infused in his soul so that he personified its ideals and values. To make the Prophet our constant companion in every thought and action until, that is the basis of what is called al Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya.

Next up for me to read, inshalla, is Prayer Fashions Man, a collection of all that Frithjof Schuon (Shaykh Isa Nur ad-Din) wrote about the importance of prayer. I have other books for Schuon but none of them ever "called to me". They just sit there on the shelf, and I just leave them alone. This was like that, but yesterday it finally "called out to me". I just had this sudden attraction to it, and so I'm gonna read it (this is how I always determine what book I'm gonna read).

***

As for the exercise front, today I jumped back into the fire. Yep, I decided no matter how painful Meltdown Training is, I'm gonna stick with it. We're not here to be happy all the time. We're here for work and discipline. And I have a poor diet, so what? Imagine what would have happened if Abu Dujana didn't fight at Uhud because he hadn't been eating well lately. One thing about bodybuilders: their diets are too good. Life's just not like that.... It's not perfect. Bodybuilders have absolutely perfect diets and basically pamper their muscles. Ancient warriors were never like that. Their bodies had to adapt so that they grow stronger and bigger with less food, so that the body becomes more efficient at processing food and getting benefits out of it. The body itself becomes tougher.

I decided to change one thing, though, with my diet. I'm gonna stop drinking water, and replace it with milk. Milk is 80% water, and so by drinking milk all day my body is still getting all the water it needs, as well as proteins and tons of other good stuff. If I drank water, I'd fill myself up. By replacing it with milk, I'm being more efficient and getting more into me. Since yesterday I've been drinking 1.5-2 kg of skimmed milk a day. In fact only time I drink water is at night with the ZMA so that calcium doesn't intefere with its absorption. Hopefully this will improve my gains and make up somewhat for the bad diet. My main problem as a vegetarian in Egypt is I end up eating lots and lots of processed carbs. Two or three plates of koshari (Egyptian dish made of: rice, pasta, lentils, chilli) for lunch. My belly is growing again. I'm not sure the Meltdown Training will keep it in check. Gotta find a solution.

Well that's it for now. Time for isha. Wassalam.

Forget Dante's Inferno, I've actually been there!

2006-05-13T18:40:00.001+03:00

"Death Circuit". That's what Don Alessi's elite athletes call his Meltdown Training program. Death Circuit. That name is so misleading, I could sue him. Death circuit made me think it would be so bad I'd die after I finished. This was far far worse. This was so bad I was dead by the second super-set. After that, I was roasting in jahannam. I had to stop half-way through the third super-set. It all took 10 minutes. 10 minutes. 10 MINUTES! 10 Minutes. Then it took me some 15 minutes until i can breathe normally again. And I started to sweat like crazy. The whole exercise should have taken 15 minutes maybe 17. That's it. I'm used to spending an hour at the gym, maybe a little more.

I only started today because I took an extra day off after the end of my last program, and then i got sick for two days, having really high fever and puking all over the dining room table and floor. Pleasant. For the past two days i've eaten nothing but one plate of rice and 2 kilograms (!!) of fresh guava and strawberry juice. Today I had a small plate of fish. Wasn't too good.

Anyway, maybe I just hadn't eaten well enough to start this program. But I doubt it. I'm not going anywhere near this program until I have a PERFECT, flawless diet, and MEGA-DOSE BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) for recovery (or steroids). haha, jk about the steroids. Now i'll have to find me a new program.

On the religious front, I've slipped back into spiritual jahannam. 4 days i havent prayed. First two days, I was supposed to make up for all prayers at night time but i ended up writing papers until the next morning. Then came two days of severe illness, and one day where I really dont have any excuse whatsoever (not that the previous days I had enough of an excuse). I feel horrible about this. Today it ends, inshalla. If only I could get up from this chair now to go do wudu I would. But I'm afraid my legs would fail me half way through the prayer. Death Circuit ??!!! Inshalla I'll do the prayers in an hour or two. I can't believe i slipped less than 10 days (i tihnk) since I started praying again.

I must not let a single day go by without prayer. Not a single day. Not for any excuse in the world.. You always think you'll go back the next day and you don't. And no more joining prayers. I'm gonna start doing them all in their proper time. If my hands start getting chapped again or whatever from all the wudu then I'd cut back. Until then, then inshalla I'll do them all in their proper time..

Gotta be honest about all this. That's what this blog is for. To push me into doing everything I should be doing. Everytime I slip I have to blog about it. Can't stay quiet about it.

"Account yourselves before you are taken into account and weigh your actions before they are weighed for you!" -Umar Ibn al-Khattab (r.a)

ZMA

2006-05-13T10:27:00.000+03:00

Wow. I had some amaazing dreams last night. Amazing. I mean, I've been having great dreams every night for a while now (and I'll you'll soon find out why), but yesterday's were just.. brilliant. I have the most amazing director up in that head. Anyway, I thought I'd share this info about ZMA with you all so you can have those dreams if you wished to (I don't guarantee however that they'd be as good as mine, depends on the quality of that director).

What is ZMA? It's one of the cheapest and most effective supplements out there.. Simply nothing but Zinc and Magnesium, with a bit of vitamin B6 to maximize absorption. Now MOST (up to 75%) of all Americans (and i'm betting more than 50% of Europeans and other people) are deficient in Zinc and Magnesium. Furthermore, studies show that almost 100% of all athletes are deficient in both Zinc and Magnesium. Yeah, that's 100%. Not only that, but anyone who sweats a lot is (most likely) deficient in both. Vegetarian or vegan? You're deficient as well.

What does it do? One study showed that it increases free testosterone in professional athletes by 33% and significantly increases their strength and power in 8 weeks. Charles Poliquin also has said his athletes really start to feel the difference after 6 weeks of use. Also increases growth hormone release during your sleep. Basically it restores all those hormones that you need for being strong and healthy and losing fat, to normal levels. People who also have less zinc also have weaker immune systems.

But even better than that- more restful, deeper sleep and of course, the amaaazing dreams. The dreams alone are worth the cheap price of ZMA.

Why can't you just get your zinc and magensium from a multivitamin/mineral formula? Because these formulas have calcium in them, and then there's even more calcium that's not mentioned and is used to bind together the vitamins and minerals. And calcium interferes with the absorption of zinc and magnesium. So even if you're taking a multi formula, you're not really getting zinc and magnesium into you because of the calcium.

Anyway, that was my first supplement review here.
You can find ZMA for about 10 bucks for a month's supply. I recommend at least two months use for athletes.

It only takes one hour...

2006-05-12T09:35:00.000+03:00

"You can be a world class expert in anything you choose just by studying the subject one hour a day for the next five years."

- Alwyn Cosgrove

Pushing Oneself to the Limit.

2006-05-10T23:57:00.000+03:00

When I see something like this, I feel dissapointed in myself and in humanity that only a tiny number of people can do this.... I mean, we have the potential to do this. Why then are most of us so completely and horribly out of shape? This body of ours, it's amazing. It can do amaaaazing things. But we completely waste its potential.... Most people are weak.

you will probably disagree once you see this, but I believe that a human should strive to be able to do that. People should train their bodies to the maximum physical fitness possible so that they are warriors in both mind and body. Most of this is not even about physical fitness,... it's about hard, disciplined training.

behold what the body and mind can do. subhana rabbia'l khaaliq

The Numbers

2006-05-09T19:41:00.000+03:00

ok, just had my weight, fat percentage, etc tested.. It's one of those long machines you see infront of pharmacies.. tis called Keito K-6... I hear this type of machine is not accurate, but I dont care about accuracy as much as i care about consistency. As long as it accurately shows me how much I'm improving in regards to lean body mass, i'm happy.

So:

Today: May 9, 2006

Height: 170 cm
Weight: 87.2 kg
Fat percentage: 16.3 %
Lean Body Mass: 73 kg

the machine printout also says the optimal fat percentage for a male of my height and age is 14-20%...

So these are my numbers currently with which I will compare future numbers after the end of every program.

As for comparing them to my numbers from before starting this last program, I cannot use these same numbers because the last time the machine measured my height at 169 cm, which changes things a bit. So I had to retake the measurements and stood a bit slouched on purpose so that it would measure my height at 169. This is just so i can compare accurately with last month's measurements (unless I grew 1 cm since then which is highly unlikely).

So:

Numbers from April 8, 2006

Height: 169 cm
Weight: 87.3 kg
Fat percentage: 16.9 %
Lean Body Mass: 72.6 kg

Numbers from Today May 9, 2006 (at 169 cm)

Height: 169 cm
Weight: 87.2 kg
Fat percentage: 16.8 %
Lean Body Mass: 72.6 kg

According to these numbers, I lost a negligible amount of fat (but that's not really what I care about).. What I care about is lean body mass and it hasn't changed at all!!! I dunno how that's possible, I mean I really feel bigger and my lats looks bigger. I dunno. Well, this was a strength-focused program and they usually don't do much in regard to changing body composition. The main point of them is just to increase my strength. (That or the machine isn't consistent. Maybe I should start taking pics of myself as well). [Edit: I was told this machine is not consistent at all because it relies on consistent water weight and that is obviously impossible.]

The Next Program

Next up I'm gonna do Don Alessi's Meltdown Training program. It's main purpose is fat loss, but it can also cause muscle gains as well because of the "anabolic shock" of this program.

If you read the article, it gives a great summary of why using weightlifting is far better than aerobic endurance training for weight loss.. MUCH better. Don't get me started on aerobic endurance training.

BUT Don Alessi says that this program works by inducing large amounts of lactic acid release which leads to Growth Hormone release which leads to fat loss and muscle gain. That's not entirely true. While growth hormone release does help, it doesn't give the radical improvements that such a program causes. People supplementing with Growth Hormone supplements take far larger amounts of growth hormone to see the same changes than any amount your body could ever produce, and so the fat loss cannot really be attributed to the growth hormone release.. not all of it anyway.

The real cause is that this type of program really really gets your heart pumping. Now aerobic endurance exercises like running get your heart pumping too, but they have so many negatives that go along with them that they're bad for you. Really bad for you (unless you do less than 20 minutes a day, and you need it- i.e. you're fat). On the other hand, you might not want to touch it even if you were fat.

From a cortisol perspective, aerobics just plain sucks. Charles states that Diana Schwarzbien, the guru of adrenal disorders, forbids even her morbidly obese clients from performing steady state aerobic work for this reason.

- From the report on the 2005 Society of Weight Training Specialists symposium.

[Charles Poliquin, who is quoting Diana Schwarzbien is probably the world's most respected strength coach and is such an expert on the human body and it's hormones that he developed a whole new method of measuring a person's hormone levels, simply through skinfold measurements in different locations! He taught this Biosignature Modulation method to hundreds of doctors too. In short, listen to what he says.]

But sorry for getting off topic there. Anyway, the Meltdown Training article has a great breakdown of why "aerobic weightlifting" is far superior to aerobic endurance work such as running.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying this killer program. Killer in more than one sense of the word:

This training has been nicknamed "death circuit" and "projectile speed training" by those who’ve survived it. This is because blood lactate levels rise to 20 mmol/l. You may want a partner to manually force you through all the prescribed sets — or help you clean up!

.

Yep. This will be so intense it might actually make me throw up.

Final Note: I'll also be taking Universal's Thermo Green Tea supplement for the month. This will help with the fat loss BUT it will screw up any way for me to determine the effectiveness of either the Green Tea or the Meltdown Training on its own! When someone wants to try a new supplement or a new program, he's supposed to keep everything else the same so that he could properly evaluate the effects of the new variable. But now that I'm introducing two variables at once, I won't be able to find out how much each of these works for me. On the other hand as long as I reach my goals, I'll be happy enough. (Hey at least I'll know for sure that the combination of both things works, haha!) Inshalla.

Green Tea

2006-05-08T20:34:00.000+03:00

i'm taking 6 caps daily of Universal's Thermo Green Tea... that's 2250mgs... which is a lot, but that's what the bottle says and it has been shown to increase thermogenesis by up to 43%, apparently. It's actually like 5 times the recommended dosage i see on other green tea bottles!

it's also got tons of health benefits such as being a powerful antioxidant, great for digestive health (helps reduce harmful bacteria in the gut while keeping/helping the good bacteria)... and tons of other stuff that would take a long list. Also drank a cup today and basically rinsed my teeth with it before swallowing it, cause its been proven to prevent cavities or gingivitis or something.

anyway, now i find out green tea is anti-androgenic!! that means less testosterone, that means less muscle!!! ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??!?!?!?!?!?! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!

oh well, since my next program will be a fat-loss program, i'll just finish these two bottles of Universal Thermo Green.. together, they'll last me a month. I mean, Green Tea has so many health benefits and will really help me cut, that i'm willing to slow down (but hopefully not reverse) muscle growth for this one month. damnit.. is this why i feel like my muscles got smaller the past two days?!?!?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY>!>!>!>!>!>!