Asalam~O~Alykum

THE POWER OF DU`AA, SUBLICATION TO ALLAH!

OH Allah u r the FORGIVER, U LOVE FORGIVENESS, FORGIVE US THEN!

Dear sisters and Brother,

Salamu Allah be upon all of u wa raHmatuhu wa Barakaatuhu in these blessed days of Ramdaan! i just want to encourage u further toward the thawaabs of laylat al-qadir, we have about 5-6 days left (time is running so please act now!! Please fire ur energy and spent it wisely! It is the time of sincere prayers, ask Allah wat ever u want! We have planned to do tahajud everyday inshaAllah starting 2am starting the 1st day of the `ashir al-awaakhir (the last ten day of Ramadaan)! What about the women with their periods? I want to thank the sisters who brought this to my attention by emailing me, All u have to do is T.R.Y TO remember God and pray to him (du3a, sublications) and may God know from you heart that you wished you could have woken up praying. And know all our deeds are based and ONLY based on our sincere intentions! So todays topic is more for sisters with period, hopefully when u read Ramadanic topic of today, u will have a smile on ur face and not have the sadness that u will miss praying laylat al-qadir! For other sisters and brothers, our daily Tahajud appointments are 2am! so please consider this for me! So lets start with today's topic!

There have been so many replies on the website especially for the program about calling people to God and people wanting to know how they can do this and so motivated to help succeed Islam. The programmes which we’ll be doing following Ramadan will be called "the prophetic path of life?"the path of the Prophet's life is his Sunnah!(sonnaa’ el 7aya), and will focus on how we can create our lives and make them successful.

Sayida aisha asked the prophet what’s the thing she should do most on Laylat el qadr, and he told her du’aa, and taught her the prayer of Allahoma innaka a’fow tohibo al afw fa’afo ‘anna (plz over sublicate this prayer, Oh Allah u r the FORGIVER, u love FORGIVENESS, FORGIVE US THEN OH ALLAH). We have talked about du’aa and praying to God a lot but I want us to encourage each other to do this and enliven this feeling that our prayers will be answered and to pray God with a full heart, confident that God will answer.

From the hadeeth, a man came to the prophet pbuh and asked him whether God is far away that we have to shout to Him or is close that we can whisper to Him? The prophet didn’t reply but God sent down the verse [When My servants ask Thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them) I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me] (bakarah) What more do you want?!

The first thing to note is, was the question too difficult that the prophet didn’t answer? The answer to this question had to come from God. With every question asked to the prophet which God replies to in the quran, His reply has always started with [say to them]. For example [They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin] (bakara) and [They ask Thee what is lawful (as food) Say: lawful unto you are (all) things good and pure] (al maida). Apart from this one [When My servants ask Thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them) I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me]. That’s it, we’ve come to the conclusion of this programme! Look at the beauty of the word [close (to them)], and the feeling when you raise your hands and pray to Him.

Also, look at how He said not the believer, so that no one can say that they have performed so many sins that He will not listen to their du’aa, He will! Then He says [when he calleth on Me] as if it is up to you, it’s there but you have to ask for it. If anyone has something you want, then pray to God.

What I’m doing now is trying to move your heart so that you can feel this du’aa inside it for perhaps this place we are in now will be a place for prayers to be answered. When sayidna zakariya walked in on sayida maryam and saw how she always had blessings from God and asked her where it had come from and she had answered that it was from God. So he prayed to God right then and His prayer was answered. Inside his heart he truly felt it.

Look also how He didn’t specify a time, not at the fajr, or when he repents only [when he calleth on Me]. This verse came down after the verses after the verses about fasting, as if the meaning that the thing that would mean that yor prayers will be answered for sure is that you would have been fasting, so what about if you are in the last 10 days.

Listen to the verse again: [When My servants ask Thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them) I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me] Listen to this one [And your Lord says: “Call on Me; I will answer your prayer] (ghafer). If you go to a person to tell your problems to, then they may turn you away, but God is asking you to come to Him.

Then what about the people who don’t pray to God? [but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell – in humiliation!] (ghafer) God sees this as being too arrogant for there is no one of us who doesn’t have problems, or is wishing for something, or have a certain intention, a certain wish?

I want to ask a question, how do people not go to God when they all have problems. How do we go running to people to help us when we have the strongest weapon within our hands. God listens to the prayers of a sinner even, so what about the believers, and imagine if it’s near laylat el qadr?

You who are wishing to wear the hijab for so long, have you prayed to God? Or you who is complaining about your brother who is sinning, maybe he is taking drugs, have you prayed to God to help him? Ask Him!

There is a hadeeth that God said that if everyone, including jinns, all got up and asked Him for whatever they wanted, it would not touch His store of blessings as a needle dipped into the sea doesn’t make it any less - Can you imagine if all mankind got together and prayed for the maximum things they wanted, God’s store will never deplete.

The prophet said there is nothing God loves most about His servants is raising his hands to Him and asking Him for what he wants. Whoever doesn’t ask God for anything and pray to Him makes Him angry. From another hadeeth, du’a is worshipping. So what about praying, fasting? The whole point of worshipping is to feel your weakness, and need and humility in front of God. You can pray and fast and not feel something within yourself because there’s something missing, but there’s no way you can put up your hands up to God and not feel this within yourself. That’s why the prophet said that du’aa is worship. Feel that you are a servant to God, don’t be arrpogant in your prayers!

Look at the hadeeth of the prophet saying not to despair from God, for God will not cause tragedies in your life with this problem if you pray to Him about it. From another hadeeth, God is so generous and feels embarrassed of not giving His servant with nothing in return – so du’aa will be answered, so why are you not praying to God? We’re in laylat el qadr, then pray for everything you want!

We’re not just praying our problems to be solved, but we are also praying as part of worshipping, and also to learn humility towards God. Pray a lot tonight, for it laylat el qadr may be tonight so pray a lot.

Look at the examples of God answering your prayers. Each of the first three suras in the Quran end with du’aa. [show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray] Ameen (Al Fatha) [Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which Thou didst lay on those before us] (al bakara) [Our Lord! We have heard the call of one calling (Us) to Faith, ‘Believe ye in the Lord’, and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, blot out from us our iniquities, and take Thyself our souls in the company of the righteous.] As if the first 3 suras are saying that you must perform du’aa.

How could anyone have a sure weapon and not use it, why not?! Who has made your life difficult, pray to God against him!

Look at the prayer of sayidna ibrahim which took thousands of years to be answered [“My Lord, make this a City of Peace, and feed its people with fruits”] (bakarah). Mecca is now the haven for muslims until the day of judgement. Could anyone have believed this of the desert which Ibrahim was in?

Oh you people who are hoping to be closer to God, oh you youth who have become more religious in ramadan and wish to stay like this, pray to God – ya rab thabitny! OH! Allah strength me to stay this way after Ramadaan!

I saw wonderful things coming from du’aa. In 1991, I had a sister in islam, I was praying 9 years for her, and then after all those years, she turned into something totally different. Pray, and work hard at this prayer.

Abu hurayra went to the prophet and complained to him about his mother who always swore about the prophet. He asked the prophet to pray for her so the prophet raised his hands and prayed for Abu Hurayra’s mother. Then when Abu Hurayra went home, as soon as he saw his mother, she said Ashhado an La ilaha illa Allah wa anna Mohamad rasool Allah. He was so happy and went back to the prophet to tell him and asked him to pray for him and his mother to be loved by muslims and to love muslims – look at how great this prayer is!

How many times have you prayed to God since we were born? How many were answered? You know what happened. The devil comes back after you have prayed for something from God and makes you forget that the prayer you asked for and which was answered was because of your prayer. Thousands of prayers have been answered but the devil has made us forget.

The last third of the night is a time when the prayers will be answered. From the hadeeth, there is an hour when anyone who asks for whatever they want, their prayer will be answered. When asked which hour, the prophet said it’s in the end of the night, the last third (the hours i suggested for the Tahajud at the top is strongly recommended! these are at the last third of the night)

From another hadeeth, the prophet said that when we are prostrating our prayers will be answered. Because we are putting our heads down for God.

Another time is when we complete the quran - think about it, were coming to completing it now so gather your friends and pray a lot.

Another time when prayers are answered is between the athan and the start of the prayer, and when breaking your fast. The companions used to say something beautiful. They said that they had a set of prayers which they always repeated, and they said that by God they were all answered before the following Ramadan. Why don’t you try and see? Also, on Fridays. On a Friday, there is an hour when God will not return a du’aa. Some of the most knowledgeable say it’s the hour before the maghrib prayer. Either then or at the time of the Friday prayer.

Another thing is when someone is repenting. Sheikh sha’rawy once met a 17 year old girl who had just started wearing the hijab and he asked her to pray for him because she had repented and her prayers will be answered!

The rules for our performing du’aa in order for them to be answered are:

1) Confidence that it will be answered – don’t just pray like you are not sure about it, but strongly, and confident about what you are asking for.

2) Humility – the more you go to Him in weakness against His greatness, the more likely for your prayer to be answered.

3) Patience – people who despair of praying when it would have come to him had he kept praying for it.

4) Clean source of money – your money has to be halal

Whoever applies this, his du’a must be answered.

Are there certain performances we must do at the time of praying? Yes:

1) Raise your hands to the sky

2) Being clean

3) Thanking God

4) Pray on the prophet (pbuh)

5) Starting with calling him with his descriptors, his names, like in the fatha (remember yesterday's lectures, calling Allah with his 99 names, EXTRA HELPFUL!)

6) Repetition

7) Spending sadaka so that you can cleanse your money

Prepare your map of du’aa for the last days in Ramadan; your family, your children, your money, don’t forget the people in palestine.

Whoever prays for someone who’s not there, then your prayer for them will be answered and the same for you. Whenever u pray for an individual, a Malika will pray for u, So imagine if u prayer for the WHOLE Omma, same number of Malika will pray for u!! subHanaAllah

So, lets pray, Allahuma inaka afun, tuHibu Al-afuuwa, fi3fu Anaaa! Balighnaaa laylat al-qadir!!

Oh, Allah You Are the Forgiver, u love Forgiveness, forgive us then!

~~Ramadan is a month whose beginning is Mercy, whose middle is forgivensss and whose end is freedom from fire~~

The Prophet, fullest peace be upon him

الاعتكاف

س: هل يجوز الاعتكاف في أي وقت دون العشر الأواخر من رمضان؟

ج: نعم يجوز الاعتكاف في أي وقت، وأفضله ما كان في العشر الأواخر من رمضان؛ اقتداءً برسول الله عليه الصلاة والسلام وأصحابه رضي الله عنهم، وقد ثبت عنه صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه اعتكف في شوال في بعض السنوات.

س: ماهي شروط الاعتكاف، وهل الصيام منها، وهل يجوز للمعتكف أن يزور مريضاً، أو يجيب الدعوة، أو يقضي حوائج أهله، أو يتبع جنازة، أو يذهب إلى العمل؟

ج: يشرع الاعتكاف في مسجد تقام فيه صلاة الجماعة، وإن كان المعتكف ممن يجب عليهم الجمعة ويتخلل مدة اعتكافه جمعة ففي مسجد تقام فيه الجمعة أفضل، ولا يلزم له الصوم، والسنة ألا يزور المعتكف مريضاً أثناء اعتكافه، ولا يجيب الدعوة، ولا يقضي حوائج أهله، ولا يشهد جنازة، ولا يذهب إلى عمله خارج المسجد؛ لما ثبت عن عائشة رضي الله عنها أنها قالت: (السنة على المعتكف ألا يعود مريضاً، ولا يشهد جنازة، ولا يمس امرأة، ولا يباشرها، ولا يخرج لحاجة إلا لما لابد منه) .

س: إذا أراد شخص أن يعتكف في العشر الأواخر من رمضان كلها في المسجد؛ فمتى يكون بدء دخوله المسجد، ومتى يكون انتهاء اعتكافه؟

ج: روى البخاري ومسلم رحمهما الله عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: (كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا أراد أن يعتكف صلى الفجر ثم دخل معتكفه)، وينتهي مدة اعتكاف عشر رمضان بغروب شمس آخر يوم منه.

س: هل تعتبر غرفة الحارس وغرفة لجنة الزكاة في المسجد صالحة للاعتكاف فيها؟ علماً بأن أبواب هذه الغرف في داخل المسجد.

ج: الغرف التي داخل المسجد وأبوابها مشرعة على المسجد لها حكم المسجد، أما إن كانت خارج المسجد فليست من المسجد، وإن كانت أبوابها داخل المسجد.

س: من روى حديث: «من اعتكف يوماً ابتغاء وجه الله باعد الله بينه وبين النار ثلاثة خنادق كل خندق كما بين الخافقين»، وما درجة هذا الحديث، وإذا أراد شخص أن يعتكف يوماً واحداً متى يكون بدء اعتكافه، ومتى يكون انتهاؤه، وكذلك إذا أراد أن يعتكف يومين فمتى يكون ابتداؤهما، ومتى يكون انتهاؤهما؟

ج: الحديث ضعيف، وبدء اعتكاف يوم يكون بعد صلاة الفجر ونهايته غروب الشمس، وهكذا اليومان.

س: هل يجوز لمن يريد الاعتكاف أن يخصص يوماً بعينه للاعتكاف؟

ج: ليس له أن يخص يوماً بعينه يعتاد الاعتكاف فيه، لكن يحرص على الاعتكاف في العشر الأواخر من رمضان؛ اقتداء بالنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم.

وبالله التوفيق وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وآله وصحبه وسلم .

من فتاوى اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والإفتاء المجلد العاشر

نقلا عن موقع صيد الفوائد

مواقع ننصح بزيارتها :

http://www.binbaz.org.sa

http://www.binothaimeen.com

http://www.ibn-jebreen.com

http://islamonline.net

http://www.saaid.net

http://www.islam.net

http://www.sultan.org

http://www.islamtoday.net

النفحات الإلهية في العشر الأواخر

نحن في شهر كثيرٌ خيره، عظيم بره، جزيلة ُ بركته، تعددت مدائحه في كتاب الله تعالى وفي أحاديث رسوله الكريم عليه أفضل الصلوات والتسليم، والشهر شهر القران والخير وشهر عودة الناس إلى ربهم في مظهر إيماني فريد، لا نظير له ولا مثيل.

وقد خص هذا الشهر العظيم بمزية ليست لغيره من الشهور وهي أيام عشرة مباركة هن العشر الأواخر التي يمن الله تعالى بها على عباده بالعتق من النار، وها نحن الآن في هذه الأيام المباركات فحق لنا أن نستغلها أحسن استغلال، وهذا عن طريق مايلي:

• الاعتكاف في أحد الحرمين أو في أي مسجد من المساجد إن لم يتيسر الاعتكاف في الحرمين، فالاعتكاف له أهمية كبرى في انجماع المرء على ربه والكف عن كثير من المشاغل التي لا تكاد تنتهي، فمتى اعتكف المرء انكف عن كثير من مشاغله، وهذا مشاهد معروف، فإن لم يتيسر للمرء الاعتكاف الكامل، فالمجاورة في أحد الحرمين أو المكث ساعات طويلة فيهما أو في أحد المساجد.

• أحياء الليل كله أو أكثره بالصلاة والذكر، فالنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان إذا دخل العشر أيقظ أهله وأحيا ليله وشد المئزر، كناية عن عدم قربانه النساء صلى الله عليه وسلم وإحياء الليل فرصة كبيرة لمن كان مشغولاً في شئون حياته –وأكثر الناس كذلك- ولا يتمكن من قيام الليل، ولا يستطيعه، فلا أقل من يكثر الناس في العشر الأواخر القيام وأحياء الليل، والعجيب أن بعض الصالحين يكون في أحد الحرمين ثم لا يصلي مع الناس إلا ثماني ركعات مستنداً على بعض الأدلة وقد نسى أن الصحابة والسلف صلوا صلاة طويلة كثير عدد ركعاتها، وهم الصدر الأول الذين عرفوا الإسلام وطبقوا تعاليمه أحسن التطبيق فما كان ليخفى عليهم حال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا تأويل أحاديثه الشريفة وحملها على أقرب المحامل وأحسن التأويلات.

• ولا ينسى أن في العشر الأواخر ليلة هي أعظم ليالي العام على الإطلاق وهي ليلة القدر التي هي خير من ألف شهر، بمعنى أن لو عبد المرء ربه 84 سنة مجداً مواصلاً فإصابة ليلة القدر خير من عبادة تلك السنوات الطوال، فما أعظم هذا الفضل الإلهي الذي من حرمه حُرم خيراً كثيراً، والمفرط فيه فد فرط في شيءٍ عظيم، وقد اتفقت كلمة أكثر علماء المسلمين أن هذه الليلة في الوتر من العشر الأواخر، وبعض العلماء يذهب إلى أنها في ليلة السابع والعشرين، وقد كان أبي بن كعب رضي الله عنه يقسم أنها ليلة السابع والعشرين كما في صحيح مسلم.

• الأكثار من قراءة القران وتدبره وتفهمه، والإكثار من ذكر الله تبارك وتعالى، فهذه الإيام محل ذلك ولا شك.

• والعجب أنه مع هذا الفضل العظيم والأجر الكريم يعمد لناس إلى قضاء إجازتهم التي توافق العشر الأواخر في الخارج فيُحرمون من خير كثير، وليت شعري ما الذي سيصنعونه في الخارج إلا قضاء الأوقات في النزه والترويح في وقت ليس للترويح فيه نصيب بل هو خالص للعبادة والنسك فلله كم يفوتهم بسبب سوء تصرفهم وضعف رأيهم في صنيعهم، فالعاقل من وجه قدراته و أوقاته للاستفادة القصوى من أيام السعد هذه.

• ولا ينبغي أن ننسى في هذه العشر أن لنا إخواناً في خنادق الجهاد والعدو قد أحاط بهم وتربص، ونزلت بهم نوازل عظيمة، فلا ينبغي أن ننساهم ولو بدعاء خالص صادر من قلب مقبل على الله تعالى، وصدقة نكون نحن أول من يغنم أجرها، ولا ننسى كذلك الفقراء والمساكين خاصة وأن العيد مقبل عليهم.

أسأل الله تعالى التوفيق في هذه العشر، وحسن استغلال الأوقات، والتجاوز عن السيئات، وإقالة العثرات، إنه ولي ذلك والقادر عليه، وصل اللهم وسلم على سيدنا محمد وآله وصحبه أجمعين.

د. محمد موسى الشريف

المصدر : شبكة الأحــرار

نقلا عن موقع صيد الفوائد

مواقع ننصح بزيارتها :

http://www.binbaz.org.sa

http://www.binothaimeen.com

http://www.ibn-jebreen.com

http://islamonline.net

http://www.saaid.net

http://www.islam.net

http://www.sultan.org

http://www.islamtoday.net

Asalamu Alykum

How do i improve writing in Arabic??? My writing is awful.

Also need advice on learning Arabic!!!

HELP!

Jazakullah Khair.

Asalam~O~Alykum

GOD'S GRACIOUS NAMES!

Sorry if its 2 long, but plz bare with me b/c this is very important. Thanx


ASMAA`U ALLAH AL-HUSNAA

before u start reading today's topic, i just want to bring to ur attentions, the most favored prayer, please keep supplicating it, so lets say it together, OH! Allah, u are the One Who pardons, u love to Pardon, Pardon US OH ALLAH (AMEEN!)

I got many messages on the website about the lecture about Laylat el Qadr but I got one especially from a youth who was saying that we were talking a lot about the value of this night, when we should be talking about the high value of the creator of this night?. So today’s words have to be about Allah and the feeling of the value of God and the best way to do this I thought was to concentrate on God’s names. I found that people always get attached by one of God’s names specifically, but there is one of God’s servants who is closer to God than this, and this is the one who knows all of God’s names. So I thought, let’s know all of his names together. Today we will talk about some of them as we can’t do all, but we want you to feel God.

The prophet once got up and called loudly to the umma saying that people have not valued God the way He deserves to be valued and then started calling His names out. Abdullah bin Omar saw that the wooden planks the prophet was standing on started shaking from the force of what he was saying. Can you imagine this?subHanaAllah!

I want, as you listen to me tonight, to watch God with your heart and feel it, the King of all this world.

Let’s start looking and living with some of His names. First, Badee’, the splendid (marvelous) creator of the skies and the earth. I want us, as we’re watching this, for your tongues to be saying La Ilaha Illa Allah (there is no GOD but Allah!!). The light on the day of judgement will come as much as the brightness of La Ilaha illa Allah was in your heart. Say la illaha illa Allah with me now. laa Ilaaha ilaaa Allah waHhdahu laa Sharika Lah!

What does it mean? Al Mobdi’ (from Badee’) is one who creates something which has not been done before, and without being taught by anyone but creates something with the utmost care and beauty. So no human could be called this splendid creator because who can create something like nothing before? The human inventions have always been a copy of something else. For example the submarine is an attempt to copy of the fish. The plane is based on God’s creation of the bird. The camera is a basic attempt to copy the eye. The computer is a basic attempt to copy the brain. The car is a basic attempt to copy the horse. The human copies but God is the only splendid creator.

Look at what the angels are created from, the jinns, the animals walking on all fours, nothing was created like them before. Who created water, light, the variety of different elements? The Wonderful, Splendid Creator. Haqan La Illaha Illa Allah waHdahu la sharika lah.

Not only that, but He creates in the utmost beauty and splendour. [blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things Hath power; He who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed; and He is the Exalted in Might, Of-forgiving ; He who created the seven heavens one above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (God) Most Gracious. So turn thy vision again; seest thou any flaw?] (Mulk) Can you see any mistakes in His creation? Look again, can you see anything? Laa ilaaha ilaa Allah! Laa ilaaha ilaa Allah (say it with me!)

Not only that, but also the splendour of the variety of his creations, look at fruit, how many different smells, colours and tastes?! Yet they are all fed by one type of water! Sometimes it will grow peaches, sometimes apples, another time bananas, or watermelons (All Glory to u oh Allah). Look at the leaves, and flowers. Bring me all the artists and get them to draw you the best picture of leaves and see if they can get anything as good as God’s creation. Not only that, look at your children, look at your wife, look around you. Look at the faces, the smiles, the smells are different, the way of thinking is different, the way they look at you is different! All these billions of people on this earth, every now and then you will say wow, sobhan Allah, these 2 look similar! All of this so you would notice, you who is not looking, at the variety of His splendid creations.la ilaaha ilaa Allah!

Also, His splendour in the matching of the characteristics of His creations. Imagine if the sky was black, or the flowers were navy blue, or if the sea was the colour of red blood, imagine. Look at the colours of the sky at the time of sunrise or sunset. Imagine if the sky was black and white, only those 2 colours, like the old television sets.

Not only these creations which we can see, but also the varieties in the creations which we cannot see, things that are in the bottom of the oceans – they are still hugely varied in their characteristics. Even if no one is there to see it, He is the splendid creator. Sometimes I go to the north coast in Egypt in the winter and I go to the beach where no-one is because it’s winter. I look at the sky at the time of sunset and see the beautiful colours and look at the clouds and I ask God “Why? Who is this for? There’s no-one here!” Can you feel this now?

Look at the most splendid of His creations, al-jannah! (heaven). He prepared heaven for the believers. There is said that in heaven there is a market filled with pictures of beautiful natural scenes. Once a man and his wife liked one of the pictures so they went inside it and stayed there for as long as they wanted before returning! Remember when we said about the clouds which will pass by in heaven asking the people below what they would like to be rained upon! The splendour of His creations.

Not only that, but the splendour of His rules which He set, for wouldn’t the splendid creator of the world, also impose splendid rules to maintain it? Just as He said [blessed is He in whose hands is Dominion], He also said [blessed is he who sent down the Criterion to His servant] (Furqan)

Let’s go to another name, after we lived with this name and we smiled, let’s look at this next name – Al Qahhar. [He is the Irresistible, (watching) from above over His worshippers] (An’am) Don’t think that this meaning applies to only those sinners and non-believers, but to everyone. Look at His control over everything but Him. He controls the earth and skies, the night and the day, the sun and the moon – [it is not permitted to the Sun to catch up with the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day; each (just) swims along in (it’s own) orbit (According to Law)] (yas-sin) Also, the lightening says sobhan Allah in thanks to God. You must value God!

He controls the rain, the number of rain drops is decided and ordered, and each drop of water to enter anyone’s mouth, through the whole process, it is all controlled by an order from God. He ordered earth and made us from it and He ordered the body which was only a shell, to move, with its tongues working and a brain functioning. Not only that but He ordered our souls. After all this, how can you drink alcohol, and how can you disobey God? He controlled the wind and told it to hide, the animals, the sun. He ordered fire and water, and ordered the fire to be put out by the water. What did He create water from? H2O, the hydrogen is flammable and the oxygen aids its flammability, but put them together and you get something which puts out fire! subHanaka Allah!

Oh you who say that nature controls itself, nature belongs to God! I wish, when we study and teach our children to think about God’s creations when they are learning these things at school in their science lessons. Then after He controlled the behaviour of water, he controlled it again on the day of judgement and ordered it to turn into fire, so that the people in hell run to find the water but find all the seas turned into fire. He ordered the knife to cut and slice, then He ordered it again not to cut when it was put to sayidna Ibrahim and although it was passed across his neck, it would not cut. He ordered fire to burn, then ordered it again not to burn sayidna Ibrahim [We said “Oh Fire! Be thou cool, and (a means of) safety for Abraham] (anbiya) He specified for it to be safe, not just cold as if it had turned cold while he was in it he would have frozen, so He specified that the temperature of it must be safe for him. Not only that but He specified that it should be safe for

sayidna Ibrahim specifically otherwise it may have cooled for everyone which would have ruined the order for the rest of mankind, but the fire was directed and ordered by Him to His wishes. La ilaha illa Allah! Laa Ilaaha ilaa Allah! The sea, he ordered it to be a symbol of beauty and peace when it is calm, and the symbol of fear when it is wild. He ordered the wind to be a symbol of calm when it was still, but a symbol of disaster and floods when it was strong.

He controlled His creations with death, even His dear prophet sayidna Mohamad pbuh. He controlled our vision, for we will not see Him until heaven and the day of judgement. He controlled the fate of sinners with diseases like Aids which you cannot see. He controlled the whole world.

I know a son who was once watching the movie King Kong with his dad, and the 6 year old, in the midst of all his brothers and sisters crying because they were scared of the great giant, asked his father “Dad, isn’t God stronger than him?” His dad said “Yes”, so the boy answered “So if he comes to me, then I will mention God.” He controlled the hearts of the children to remember Him. Why are we not like this? Because we have been affected and controlled by this world. He controlled His creations which He loves and moved them away from committing sins.

Then comes the name of The Close One. [For We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein] (Qaf) Do you want to understand this meaning? Who is the closest person to you in your life? Your wife, your children, your friends? No, it’s God. I’ll give you an example, go and take your child and give them a very strong hug, who’s closer to him? Go on, take your laptop and hug it, do it! Who’s closest to it? You or the electricity?! The soul to the body is like the electricity to the computer, God is closer! La illaha illa Allah.

Look at how every time you think of a name, you think la illaha illa Allah, and live with God. Live with The Jaleel, the Magnificent. Do you know when you have looked at the sunset and you have thought that you wish you didn’t move away from it? Then what about when you see God? Have you seen the ka’ba? Do you remember how you felt when you saw it? Can you imagine if you went inside it? If the sight of the most beautiful things can make you speechless, then can you imagine meeting God, (subHanaka Allah) the creator of beauty himself? Sayidna Yusuf (Prophet Josef) was given half of all the creation of beauty, and when the women in the Madina saw him, while cutting the apple, they lost their counsciousness and they automatically cut their hands (all of us know the story), and they said (qulana Hashaa lil-laahi maHadhaa basharaaa, inhadhaa ilaa makau kariim), they said his is not a human but an angel! If Yusuf was a revolutionary figure of beauty, imagine the CREATOR OF YUSUF!!!

imagine what God will be like? Can you now imagine that you will see Him on the day of judgement? Everyone will see Him as if you are seeing the moon when it’s full. How about if He says to you that He is happy with you, so are you happy with Him? When sayidna moussa asked God to see him [Oh my Lord! Show (Thyself) to me] and God said [by no means canst thou see Me (direct); but look upon the mount; if it abide in it’s place then thou shalt see Me.” When His Lord manifested His glory on the mount, He made it as dust] (A’raf) The mountain could not keep standing from seeing at God and Moussa fell down [And Moses fell down in a swoon]! La illaha illa Allah. Be shy of the Jaleel. He helps you with not committing the sin, for the Jaleel can see you. And know if u are shy of the jaliin in Dunayaa by avoiding sins, he will be shy of u in the day of Judgement, he will be shy of not accepting ur prayers when u raise ur hand and ask him for a favor via ur subblication! Al-Hamdulaka Rabi!

The last name, so that you may leave happy and not just wanting to worship, but wanting to worship with the utmost energy. Waly, the Guardian. Can you imagine when a child is asked to bring his guardian but he can’t because his father has died and his feeling that there is no one there for him? Do you know the feeling of orphans without a guardian, or the widow or divorcee without a guardian to protect them? The Guardian of your matters. Can you understand this meaning? There’s a big difference between you going to someone strong and asking him to protect you, and the difference of Him coming to you and wanting to protect you. We don’t have anyone but Him in our life. Whoever has God as his guardian in his life, then there is no fear over him in his life. Abdullah bin huthafa was crying when he was being killed and the non-believers were asking whether he was scared of them but he said that he was not crying because he was dying. He said that he was crying because he only had one

soul when he wished he had many souls as the numbers of hair on his body which would leave his body, one after the other in the name of God. La illaha illa Allah.

The practical work for tonight is to go and learn the names of God, why not do it tonight, and teach it to whoever goes with you to the mosque tonight in tahajud? For whoever memorizes these 99 days goes into heaven. If you can’t do this tonight, then let’s do it by the end of Ramadan. I am urging you to refer to the books by Asma’ El Lah El Hosna by Dr. Ratib Al Nabolsy and Al Hikam by Dr. Saeed Ramadan, you will learn a lot from these. And go to the website www.amrkhaled.net for more reference, and also watch the Khawatir Qurania programme which talks about similar meanings.

Also for those who don't have access to the 99 gracioius names of Allah, they are listed in the arabic section of the website

Finally but not Lastly, May Allah's fullest peaces and blessings be upon our Lovely Prophet, Muhammed al-Mustafa, his gifted wives, our mothers in dunya and akhira, his pure progeny from Ahlul al-bayt, al-Hassan wa al-hussan (saydaa shabaabu ahli al-jana), Fatima and Ali, his respectful companion and followers (followers or his loved ones who believe in his sunnah without seeing him) from ahlul al-sunati wa al-jamaa3a that is including all of us inshaAllah ilaa yaum al-diiin! ameen ameen

siyaam maqbuul, A`ishanur?

Oh, Allah You Are the One Who pardons, u love to Pardon, Pardon us then!

~~Ramadan is a month whose beginning is Mercy, whose middle is forgivensss and whose end is freedom from fire~~

The Prophet, fullest peace be upon him

مايفسد الصوم ويوجب الكفارة

س: أريد أن أعرف موجبات القضاء والكفارة في رمضان، علماً أنه سبق أن بحثت الموضوع، وانتهى بي البحث إلى رأيين: أحدهما يرى أن موجبات القضاء والكفارة هو الجماع لا غير، والدليل معروف في السنة المطهرة. أما الرأي الثاني: فيجعل كل ما يصل إلى المعدة عمداً موجباً للقضاء والكفارة، إضافة إلى الجماع دون أن أعثر على دليل من الكتاب والسنة.

لذا أرجو من فضيلتكم إفادتي بالجواب الشافي المدعم بالدليل من الكتاب والسنة، وجزاكم الله عنا وعن المسلمين كل خير.

ج: نص النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم على الحكم بوجوب الكفارة على أعرابي لكونه جامع زوجته عمداً في نهار رمضان وهو صائم..) فكان ذلك منه بياناً لمناط الحكم، ونصاً على علته، واتفق الفقهاء على أن كونه أعرابياً وصف طردي لا مفهوم له، ولا تأثير له في الحكم فتجب الكفارة بوطء التركي والأعجمي زوجته، واتفقوا أيضاً على أن وصف الزوجة في الموطوءة طردي غير معتبر، فتجب الكفارة بوطء الأمة وبالزنا، واتفقوا أيضاً على أن مجيء الواطئ نادماً لا أثر له في وجوب الكفارة، فلا اعتبار له أيضاً في مناط الحكم، ثم اختلفوا في الجماع هل هو وحده المعتبر في وجوب الكفارة بإفساد الصوم به فقط، أو المعتبر انتهاك حرمة رمضان بإفساد الصوم عمداً ولو بطعام أو شراب، فقال الشافعي وأحمد بالأول، وقال أبو حنيفة ومالك ومن وافقهما بالثاني، ومنشأ الخلاف بين الفريقين اختلافهما في تنقيح مناط الحكم، هل هو انتهاك حرمة صوم رمضان بإفساده بخصوص الجماع عمداً، أو انتهاكه بإفساد صومه عمداً مطلقاً ولو بطعام أو شراب، والصواب الأول؛ تمشياً مع ظاهر النص، ولأن الأصل براءة الذمة من وجوب الكفارة حتى يثبت الموجب بدليل واضح.

س: في شهر رمضان المبارك أطغتني شهوتي على زوجتي بعد صلاة الفجر وجامعتها فما الحكم؟

ج: حيث ذكر المستفتي أنه أطغته شهوته فجامع زوجته بعد الفجر في رمضان فالواجب عليه عتق رقبة فإن لم يستطع فصيام شهرين متتابعين فإن لم يستطع فإطعام ستين مسكيناً لكل مسكين مد (بر) وعليه قضاء اليوم بدلاً عن ذلك اليوم، وأما المرأة فإن كانت مطاوعة فحكمها حكم الرجل، وإن كانت مكرهة فليس عليها إلا القضاء.

والأصل في وجوب الكفارة على الرجل: ما رواه أبو هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: (بينما نحن جلوس عند النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إذ جاءه رجل فقال: يا رسول الله هلكت، قال: «مالك؟» قال: وقعت على امرأتي وأنا صائم، فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: «هل تجد رقبة تعتقها؟» قال: لا، قال: «فهل تستطيع أن تصوم شهرين متتابعين؟» قال: لا، قال: «فهل تجد إطعام ستين مسكيناً؟» قال: لا، قال: فمكث النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: فبينما نحن على ذلك أتي النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بعرق فيه تمر -والعرق: المكتل- فقال: «أين السائل؟» فقال: أنا، فقال: «خذه فتصدق به» الحديث متفق عليه.

أما إيجاب قضاء يوم مكان اليوم الذي جامع زوجته فيه لما في رواية أبي داود وابن ماجه: «وصم يوماً مكانه» .

وأما إيجاب الكفارة والقضاء على المرأة إذا كانت مطاوعة؛ فلأنها في معنى الرجل، وأما عدم إيجاب الكفارة عليها في حال الإكراه؛ فلعموم قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: «عفي لأمتي عن الخطأ والنسيان وما استكرهوا عليه».

وبالله التوفيق وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وآله وصحبه وسلم .

من فتاوى اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والإفتاء المجلد العاشر

نقلا عن موقع صيد الفوائد

مواقع ننصح بزيارتها :

http://www.binbaz.org.sa

http://www.binothaimeen.com

http://www.ibn-jebreen.com

http://islamonline.net

http://www.saaid.net

http://www.islam.net

http://www.sultan.org

http://www.islamtoday.net

صيام المسافر

س: ما حكم الصلاة والصيام في السفر؛ هل الإتمام والصيام أفضل أم الأخذ بالرخصة المشروعة أفضل؟ مع العلم أن البعيد قريب في وقتنا الحاضر وليس هناك صعوبة في السفر.

ج: يجوز الإفطار للمسافر في رمضان وقصر الصلاة الرباعية، وذلك أفضل من الصيام والإتمام؛ لما ثبت من قول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم «إن الله يحب أن تؤتى رخصه كما يحب أن تؤتى عزائمه»، ولقوله عليه السلام: «ليس من البر الصيام في السفر» .

س: اختلفت الأقوال بالنسبة للفطر في رمضان لمن كان مسافراً من الجنوب لأداء العمرة - نرجو إفتاءنا في ذلك الأمر وفقكم الله لصيامه وقيامه إنه سميع مجيب الدعاء.

ج: من كان مسافراً سفراً تقصر الصلاة في مثله رخص له في الفطر في رمضان؛ سواء كان سفره لعمرة أو لصلة رحم أو لصديق أو لطلب علم أو تجارة أو نحو ذلك من الأسفار المباحة؛ لقوله تعالى: {ومن كان مريضاً أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر..} .

س: ما معنى قول الرسول عليه السلام: (من صام فله أجر ومن أفطر له أجران)؟

ج: الحديث المعروف في هذا ما رواه مسلم في صحيحه عن أنس رضي الله عنه قال: (كنا مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في السفر فمِنَّا الصائم ومنا المفطر، قال: فنزلنا منزلاً في يوم حار، أكثرنا ظلاً صاحب الكساء، ومنا من يتقي الشمس بيده، قال: فسقط الصوام وقام المفطرون فضربوا الأبنية وسقوا الركاب فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم «ذهب المفطرون اليوم بالأجر»)، وفي رواية أخرى لمسلم عنه قال: (كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في سفر فصام بعض وأفطر بعض، فتحزم المفطرون وعملوا، وضعف الصائمون عن بعض العمل، قال: فقال في ذلك: «ذهب المفطرون اليوم بالأجر»(1) ومعنى الحديثين واضح والقصد بيان أن الأخذ برخصة الفطر في السفر عند المشقة وشدة الحر خير من الأخذ بالعزيمة وهو الصوم. أما الحديث الذي ذكرته فلا نعلم له أصلاً.

س: على مسافة كم من الكيلو مترات يجب الإفطار وماذا لو صام ولم يفطر؟

ج: رخص بعض العلماء في قصر الصلاة الرباعية والفطر في نهار رمضان في كل ما يسمى سفراً وحدد جمهور العلماء المسافة بثمانين كيلو متر تقريباً.

ومن صام في السفر الذي يشرع فيه الإفطار فصيامه صحيح للأدلة الدالة على ذلك، ولا حرج عليه إلا إذا أضرَّ به الصوم فإنه يتأكد عليه الإفطار لقول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم «ليس من البر الصوم في السفر».

س: رجل مسافر بالطائرة من الرياض إلى القاهرة في رمضان هل يجوز له الإفطار؟

ج: الفطر في السفر من باب الرخص تيسيراً من الله جل وعلا لعباده، ودافعاً لما يشق عليهم والأخذ بما رخصه الله محبوب إلى الله تبارك وتعالى، فإن الله يحب أن تؤتى رخصه كما يكره أن تؤتى معصيته. وإذا سافر الإنسان إلى القاهرة مثلاً في رمضان فله أن يفطر، وإن صام فصيامه صحيح.

س: إذا سافرت سفر قصر من بلد سكني إلى بلد آخر، ثم أقمت فيه ثلاثة أيام وقد نويت هذه الإقامة قبل أن أبدأ بها فهل يجب علي الصوم إن كنت في شهر رمضان، وهل أقصر الصلاة أو أتمها؟

ج: إذا كان الواقع كما ذكرت من أنك سافرت سفراً تقصر فيه الصلاة ثم أقمت أثناءه ثلاثة أيام بنية الإقامة شرع لك أن تفطـر وأن تقصـر الصـلاة الرباعية مدة الأيام الثلاثة التي أقمتها؛ لأن إقامة هذه المدة لا تقطع حكم السفر ولو كانت إقامتك إياها بنية حين بدأتها، لما ثبت من أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أقام بمكة في حجة الوداع أربعة أيام واستمر في قصره الصلاة، ولك أن تصوم إن شئت وعليك أن تصلي مع الناس الفريضة أربعاً ولا تصل منفرداً.

وبالله التوفيق وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وآله وصحبه وسلم .

من فتاوى اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والإفتاء المجلد العاشر

نقلا عن موقع صيد الفوائد

مواقع ننصح بزيارتها :

http://www.binbaz.org.sa

http://www.binothaimeen.com

http://www.ibn-jebreen.com

http://islamonline.net

http://www.saaid.net

http://www.islam.net

http://www.sultan.org

http://www.islamtoday.net

السلام عليكم

من ترك صلاة الصبح فليس في وجهه نور

من ترك صلاة الظهر فليس في رزقه بركه

من ترك صلاة العصر فليس في جسمه قوة

من ترك صلاة المغرب فليس في أولاده ثمره

من ترك صلاة العشاء فليس في نومه راحه

امانه من يقراها ان ينشرها علي الاقل مره واحده

قال رسول اللة صلى اللة علية و سلم

بلغوا عني و لو باية

منقوووول

as-Salaamu 3alaykum,

I was sitting down with two Ikhwaan (I mean brothers), and we were talking about living in the West. So one of us mentioned that many Muslims who live in the west, start getting affected by the anti-religious atmosphere here, to the point that certain things become difficult to say or do infront of others or to others.

I'll give you some examples.

It is recommended, that if someone loves a brother for Allaah's Sake, that he informs him, as the Prophet taught, Sallallaahu 3alayhi wa 3alaa Aalihee wa Sallam. Think for a second, especially the brothers (cause this seems easier for the sisters), how easy is it for you to say that to another brother? Many of us think we might be accused of being effeminite or not straight. But the reality of it is that the Western culture has affected our hearts and thoughts whether we like it or not.

Another example, it is recommended to cry out of fearing Allaah, and if you are not able to then at least attempt to cry. This is taught to us in the Sunnah. How easy is it for those who grew up in the West to cry? I was listening to this tape by Shaykh Abdullaah as-Sa3d, who is very old, he was talking about the situation in Iraaq. He mentioned that 'our sisters in Iraaq are being searched by the Kaafir men and touched by them'. He started crying on the tape for a minute. This is infront of others! And even greater than that is Aboo Bakr, who would cry during his Salaah while leading others. This was not to show off, of course, but for them their Ikhlaas was so great that they did not recognize the presence of others nor their absence during their worship. Many avoid crying thinking it looks weak or not manly, or care that others will doubt their Ikhlaas. Are we better or Aboo Bakr? Yes crying in secret is a praiseworthy act, and gains the shade of Allaah when the sun is very close. But why the hard hearts of today?

Another example, the Sahaabah were constantly remembering and reminding each other of Allaah and the Last Day. They would focus on reminding each other of Allaah and His Ma'eeyah (Being with us in a manner that befits His Majesty, without being inside and mixed or part of the creation, since He is Above the creation, separate, distinct and independent of it.) And they would remind each other of the closeness of death, the Hour, what possibly awaits them for their good deeds, and what possibly awaits them if they were to commit sins. These two beliefs, Allaah and the Last Day, are so significant, that they are mentioned many times over and over in the Qur'aan and Sunnah alongside each other. These two beliefs were also the major focus for the Companions when in Makkah, since by them it is possible to increase one's patience and perseverance, and increase one's dedication and concentration.

Some people quote the Hadeeth regarding the Sahaabee who came to Aboo Bakr feeling that he had hypocrisy, because when he leaves the Prophet's gathering there isn't as much rememberance of Allaah (or with this meaning), thinking that there were moments for the Sahaabah where they had Ghaflah (forgetfullness or lack of attention to Allaah). The scholars say the Hadeeth indicates a decrease in the degree and amount, not an absence and disappearance. Because in the books of narrations and history, you see them talking to each other and their families, constantly reminding each other of Allaah and the Last Day. Saying to each other, sometimes, let us sit and remind each other of Eemaan. Parting each other with Soorat al-Asr. Constantly mentioning Allaah in their reminders, advices and admonishments.

We living in the West, sometimes live a very dead life. If some of us gain the courage to advise someone in person, they might say to them, such and such is Haraam, or lets to this good deed. But never is the spirit of the deed and purpose given much emphasis. Why don't we say, 'Akhi, Allaah is Watching you. He sees you and I now, and knows what we are doing. Why don't you abondon this sin to gain Allaah's Closeness and Gardens?'.

How many gatherings do we have with our friends and hours pass without Allaah being mentioned except for very very extremely briefly? How many would feel awkward to say to the others in the gathering 'Akhi, lets remember Allaah for a moment, and remember that we could die any moment'.

We live in dead societies, Wallaahi. I heard a tape by Shaykh Abdullaah Azzaam titled Waseeyat ash-Shaheed, where he said that this Akh, named Abdul-Wahhaab al-Ghaamidee (who attained Shahaadah) was asked by his mother 'my son, go ask the scholars, hear what they have to say.' He said to her, Rahimahullaah, 'I have already got a Fatwaa, and am convinced, and I can no longer tolerate these dead societies.'

I was mentioning this to another brother. He said to me, 'Akhi, you know what the strange thing is? That brother is from Saudi Arabia and saying that. So what about us living in the West. Our socities are even more so dead.'

My point, we live in dead societies. We don't want our gatherings and families to be dead too. The best way to keep them alive is with Dhikr and reminding each other with Allaah. Allaah, Jalla Fee 'Ulaa, Says, {For indeed it is by the rememberance of Allaah that the hearts find comfort}, and He Says{Remind them, for indeed reminders benefit the believers.} (~translation of meanings)

I wish that we would regularly remind each other of Allaah and the Last Day in our gatherings. I'm sure our college professors, classmaters, employers and co-workers aren't doing that for us.

We have to all learn that the practice of our brothers is our concern too. We don't have the Western beliefs of 'mind your own business' (I am not referring, of course, to things done in secret. Spying against Muslims is Haraam, Allaah Says {And do not spy} (~translation))

So, lets think for a second, how can we liven up our air with Dhikr and Nasaai'h?

Don't forget that there is a Saheeh Hadeeth that any gathering in which no mention of Allaah is made nor Salaah upon the Prophet, will be regretted by those who were in it on the Day of Judgement.

Dear all, this is a very interesting piece by Prof. Cole at AUC who reverted to Islam.

Its long but definitely worth reading..

>Enjoy :-)

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Dr. Donald Cole was a Prof. at AUC .(Cairo American University) ..but it's a lovely article ...on how he converted Enjoy and may we all be blessed with the Mercy of the Merciful ))

A Middle East Anthropologist Submits

By AbdAllah Talib Donald Powell Cole

23/10/2003

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I submitted to Allah on 6 Rabiah al-Awal 1424 ( May 7, 2003 ) at the office of the Grand Imam, Sheikh of the Noble al-Azhar University, in Cairo. I stated in Arabic, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear

witness that uhammad is His Servant and Messenger." I acknowledged that Moses, Jesus, and all other prophets (upon them be peace and >blessings) are servants and messengers of Allah, I renounced all religions other than

Islam and I said that henceforth I adhere to Islam as my faith and sacred law.

was personally received and formally welcomed into Islam by the sheikh al-Azhar, Muhammad Tantawy.

I was 62, had lived, researched, and taught in the Muslim Arab world for 35 years, and was very familiar with Islam in both theory and practice. Yet, a long-time Egyptian brother who accompanied me that fateful day said

that he had cried as he saw me listening to and answering the questions of the sheikh who interviewed me and authenticated my submission. What had been my journey to Islam and why had it taken so long? What has been unfolding since my submission?

My first direct contact with Islam was in Berkeley, California in the days of the Free Speech and anti-Vietnam War movements. I had been raised in Texas as a Presbyterian and had gone through multiple, albeit not atypical, identity changes in the 1960s at the University of Texas in Austin and in a wide range of student travels, including my studies in Mexico, Chile, Spain, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Argentina. I broke ties with the Presbyterian Church saw Roman Catholicism as a gross exploiter of the poor and a supporter of the reactionary elite in Latin America, and seriously questioned United States foreign policy and business interests outside its borders. Within WASP (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) America, I came to feel like a foreigner When I was a junior in college, I wanted to leave home and all things American in order to dedicate myself to the revolution" in Latin America, which, led by Salvador Allende, was gaining momentum among socialist students and activists in Chile. My mother and a kind anthropology professor at UT-Austin talked me out of that bold move, and so I eventually moved into anthropology, a discipline on the fringe where cultural relativity and the pursuit of knowledge primarily among third-world peoples prevailed.

As a graduate student at the University of California in Berkeley, I plunged into social anthropology and was encouraged by my graduate advisor, Laura Nader, to focus on the Arab Middle East. I struggled with Arabic, studied Islamic institutions with a well-known professor who was Jewish

and also, it was said, a Zionist. I met and interacted with Arab graduate students, both Christian and Muslim. I found Sufism attractive and I fasted for a few days one Ramadan just to feel the experience. Non-Christian religious experience had become fashionable at Berkeley and it was fashionable to sample as many such experiences as possible along with other exotica.

Today, I see that period as a step on the return to paganism in much of the West; but it also reflected a search for a more meaningful spiritual life by some of America's best. The predominant materialism and the pursuit of

capitalist values had become spiritually vacuous and even destructive. I was not a flower child during that period, but I was close to them and learned from them and from other counter-culture students to take religion in itself seriously. To do so went against the grain of much of anthropology where religion was taken simply for the role it plays in society and culture and not for the power inherent within it. That I accepted the power of religion as religion did not, however, make me a believer. Yet, I was never an atheist. I remained neutral and content to observe what others did and said in the name of their religious beliefs. Thanks to student deferments I escaped going to the Vietnam War and instead spent from 1968 to 1970 in Saudi Arabia doing field research for my PhD dissertation. Allah Almighty, I believe now, blessed me back then. I was able to know the old Riyadh and I can never forget the calls to prayer from Riyadh's 1000 minarets. They were powerful, and I wanted to respond; but I walked alone and without religion through dusty streets while mosques were filled with the faithful. I later lived for 18 months with Bedouin nomads in the Empty Quarter and Eastern Province. During my first night in the desert with them, when the

sunset prayer was called, I found that I could not just sit alone and not pray with them. I could not deny their religion by saying that I was a Christian as others in similar situations before me had done. I knew in my heart that their Allah was the same God that I had known as a child. And so I prayed with them that prayer, and then every other

prayer, five times a day throughout the year and a half that I lived, herded, and migrated with them. Their leader, Talib, taught me the Fatiha (opening chapter of the Qur'an). I proclaimed the shahada (declaration of faith) many times, and in public. I fasted the two Ramadans that I spent with them.

Islam was seamlessly integrated into everything we did. It punctuated and regulated our whole life from the most mundane to the most sublime, and it embraced everybody in the community. No one was left out. This was not

particularly religious in a spiritual or intellectual way; the Islam we lived was "normal," how everyday life was constituted. I wrote long ago that the happiest days of my life were those I lived among these Muslim Arab Bedouin. That is still true today, 35 years later; but I feel a new happiness now as I return once again to Islam.

A Bedouin brother and friend asked me if I would continue to pray and fast after I left them. I asserted that of course I would continue and said that Islam did not end at the borders of Saudi Arabia. But back in Berkeley

life was different. My notes show that in the first course that I ever taught, I talked about Islam being a "beautiful religion." I expressed strong positive vibes for Islam but I no longer prayed and none of the nominal Muslims whom I knew in Berkeley prayed either.

Soon afterwards I was employed at The American University in Cairo where a secular agenda dominated. Back then, in the 1970s, Arabic was hardly heard on campus. Islam at AUC was then mainly history, art and architecture,

and field trips to the museum and some exquisite old mosques. Later in the 1980s "political" Islam began to be heard, veiling and a few beards began to appear on campus, and more students were fasting. Then the Muslim

students at AUC asked for the unheard of: a mosque or prayer area on campus. Many considered these changes a horrible slide backwards from modernity and progress. I, however, respected what these Muslim students were doing. I tried in my courses to present Islam and the changes underway in a positive light while also walking the

tightrope of scientific "neutrality" or "value-free" social science. In my heart,

and given my salafi (or Wahhabi) "upbringing" in Saudi Arabia , I liked what I saw happening and took offense at snide comments against these young Muslims made by colleagues-Muslim and Christian, Egyptian and American. Yet, I simply observed.

More recently have been a series of events that affected me personally, in addition to the wider world in which we all exist. There were the deaths of my elderly parents and thus freedom from the ties that bound me to them as a dutiful son and thereby to the ancient Presbyterian and Methodist lineages that they embraced. There was the bombing of our Muslim brothers in Afghanistan by young men white, black, and brown who could be blood or milk relatives of mine from Texas and the South. There are the horrible scenes of barefaced torture of Muslim brothers, held without trial, in Guantanamo - a part of Cuba that the US took during a war in which my grandfather nearly

had to fight. In 2002, there was the September 11th anniversary of the 1973 CIA-instigated coup against the popularly-elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile. I learned on that day that a friend, a brother, had

miraculously survived the bloody coup and after years of torture and exile was alive and well in Santiago. Another friend, a sister, was found again in Paris after decades of incommunicado. Around the same time, Bedouin whom I had not seen for more than twenty years suddenly appeared at one of the gates of AUC, and I was soon in

Saudi Arabia for a short visit. I was in the desert again. The magnificent desert Arabian night sky, miraculously without columns or any support, was overpowering. The camels were present chewing their cuds, just like

before.

The people were the same, my brothers of long ago and now also their sons and grandsons. An old friend asked if I would call the prayer. I deferred, but of course I prayed with them. More than 30 years had passed since I had prayed together with others, but I had not forgotten. That night I knew that it was time for me to wake up. I could no longer remain an observer and an occasional participant.

Back in Cairo I asked an American Muslim who was taking a course with me how he had converted and he told me that he had simply said the shahada before a sheikh. I asked a couple of Egyptians, and they told me to go to al-Azhar University. I asked if circumcision was required. The unofficial verdict was no, not at my age. Then I was in Paris, the City of Light, with an Egyptian brother and his daughter as the Anglo-American war against



Arab-Muslim Iraq raged. Early morning, upon waking, I knew without doubt that I wanted to submit formally and officially. I told my brother. We met the next day after our return to Cairo at the office of the Grand Imam of

al-Azhar. I submitted to Allah. A few close friends who heard the news were very happy and congratulated me enthusiastically. A retired Egyptian police General, a close friend of a close friend, congratulated me but said that

I must now pray regularly and in the mosque. I knew on my own that the purification (tahar) of circumcision was necessary, and so I had myself circumcised; it was not the big deal I had always imagined and feared.

I prayed at home for a few days. Then I ventured into the mosque, a large and important one across the street from where I live. The news spread like wildfire through my downtown neighborhood; many expressed their happiness at my becoming a Muslim. At AUC, I now pray in our overly-crowded prayer area. The students, my younger brothers, have become my teachers and rightly correct me when I make mistakes. In the downtown mosque I have moved from the back rows to the front row and am now a regular. Workers, businessmen, officials, young, and old, we pray together in the unity of Islam that recognizes no classes, no ethnic groups, no races, no borders. Towards the end of the summer of 2003, I went for a month's vacation in eastern Saudi Arabia. My Bedouin brothers said that I should perform the Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage). In a matter of hours, I was on an airplane from Dammam to Jeddah. When the pilot announced that in ten minutes we would cross the miqat, the line at which one must don the ceremonial robes, tears flowed and I cried like I have never cried before. Mecca, the Great

Mosque, the Ka'aba, the tawaf (circumambulation), the sa'iy (running between the hills of Safa and Marwa), the cutting of my hair were all truly beyond words Never have I experienced or even imagined anything like the `Umrah, and then the praying and the sitting and the thinking in the Great Mosque. Islam does not belong to me. Islam does not belong to the reader. Islam belongs to Allah, Exalted is He! Perhaps my real journey is just now beginning - in sha' Allah (God willing) I feel the pain of the Muslim nation and I also sense hope and the seeds of victory. My ears are open, for the first time in a long time - perhaps the first time ever. I hear the call of da'wa (invitation to Allah). I am not anti-American, as one might think from some of the things I said above. am an American though my home is in Egypt. My ancestors were among the first European settlers in Virginia and the first Anglo settlers in Texas. They had escaped religious bigotry and political oppression and strove to create a new society with respect and freedom for all human beings, according to the Scriptures available to them. I follow in their tradition. They migrated across oceans and continents and so have I. They followed the Holy Bible. They did not know the Holy Qur'an. But thanks to Allah, I am privileged to know it, and it is thus my duty to help spread the Message communicated therein. My mother was a daughter of the American Revolution, and years ago when told her about Allah she was sure that He and her God are one and the same. There is hope that America will be saved, not from, but by Muslims - sha' Allah. There is a lot of work for us Muslims to do and long roads to travel and not only in (or even mainly in) America, but throughout the world.

Allah Akbar!