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To add to my comment in my previous post about TV programs, it is hard this year to look up programs that are good and worth watching during Ramadan. The only two I seem to be following is a series about the life of Yusuf alayhi asalaam (peace be upon him) and Amr Khaled’s show about Qur’an parables that focuses on the life of Musa alayhi asalaam (peace be upon him). I want to share the new things I learned from watching the shows till now.

لَّقَدْ كَانَ فِي يُوسُفَ وَإِخْوَتِهِ آيَاتٌ لِّلسَّائِلِينَ

12:7 (Y. Ali) Verily in Joseph and his brethren are signs (or symbols) for seekers (after Truth).

Yusuf (as)

Raheel, Yusuf’s mother, was going to die when she was giving birth to him in Iraq but at the time the people in the village of Fadan whose ruler was the father of Raheel were idol worshipers and all the people there were made to think by the temple priests that this is happening because Yacoub (as) and his wife were non believers in the idols. But Raheel didn’t die and when Yusuf (as) was born it rained after a long period of drought so the people of Fadan believed in Allah SWT and the temple was burned by an accident done by the priestess there who also died in the fire. Yet, Raheel died when giving birth to Benyamin before reaching the land of Kan’aan, Palestine and Jordan.

Yusuf (as) was brought up by his aunt, the sister of Yacoub (as). Once he was playing and they lost him so Yacoub (as) took him away from the aunt so she and Yusuf (as) made a ploy to stay with her by saying the belt of prophet Ishac (as), which she inherited from him, was stolen then they found it with Yusuf (as) (even though he didn’t steal it) so because the laws then said he had to become her slave for four years so she took him again. This made me understand why in the Qur’an the brothers of Yusuf said:

قَالُواْ إِن يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَّهُ مِن قَبْلُ فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ قَالَ أَنتُمْ شَرٌّ مَّكَانًا وَاللّهُ أَعْلَمْ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ

12:77 (Y. Ali) They said: “If he steals, there was a brother of his who did steal before (him).” But these things did Joseph keep locked in his heart, revealing not the secrets to them. He (simply) said (to himself): “Ye are the worse situated; and Allah knoweth best the truth of what ye assert!”

Though they knew it was not true since their aunt confessed to what she did before she died.

What scared me the most was how the brothers of Yusuf (as) were willing to kill him just because they were envious of him because he was chosen to be the next prophet. They beat him up and one brother prevented the others from killing him but he was still thrown in the well:

إِذْ قَالُواْ لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَى أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلاَلٍ مُّبِينٍ

12:8 (Y. Ali) They said: “Truly Joseph and his brother are loved more by our father than we: But we are a goodly body! really our father is obviously wandering (in his mind)!

اقْتُلُواْ يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ وَتَكُونُواْ مِن بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ

12:9 (Y. Ali) “Slay ye Joseph or cast him out to some (unknown) land, that so the favour of your father may be given to you alone: (there will be time enough) for you to be righteous after that!”

قَالَ قَآئِلٌ مَّنْهُمْ لاَ تَقْتُلُواْ يُوسُفَ وَأَلْقُوهُ فِي غَيَابَةِ الْجُبِّ يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَةِ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ

12:10 (Y. Ali) Said one of them: “Slay not Joseph, but if ye must do something, throw him down to the bottom of the well: he will be picked up by some caravan of travellers.”

All ten of them were scheming to hurt Yusuf (as) but alhamdulilah as Allah SWT wanted the plan was changed to throwing him into a well. But thinking about it this had to happen so Yusuf (as) goes to Egypt and becomes a Aziz then be able to help it and the surrounding region against the drought to come.

This makes you think about how many events you think are bad (like Yusuf (as) he was hurt by his brothers then went into slavery then prison) but it is a necessary path to lead to something good (he became a ruler). This is where I reached in the series. I’ll continue later insha’Allah.

Four hundred years after prophet Yusuf (as) prophet Musa (as) time came. I will put experts from Amr Khaled’s program about why sons of Israel were oppressed by Phar’oun even though we know from the Qur’an they came to Egypt respected when Yusuf (as) invited them there:

فَلَمَّا دَخَلُواْ عَلَى يُوسُفَ آوَى إِلَيْهِ أَبَوَيْهِ وَقَالَ ادْخُلُواْ مِصْرَ إِن شَاء اللّهُ آمِنِينَ

12:99 (Y. Ali) Then when they entered the presence of Joseph, he provided a home for his parents with himself, and said: “Enter ye Egypt (all) in safety if it please Allah.”

By Amr Khaled, Translated by: The English Convoy – Dar al-Tarjama

Now, we’re telling the story of Musa (AS) (Moses). Allah teaches us the value of justice and how distorting oppression could be to a man’s soul. In this story we’re introduced to a mighty pharaoh who put up a new law allowing the killing of male infants born of Israelis in his kingdom. After killing one thousand babies, the Israelites were still too scared to complain! There must have been a reason for the pharaoh’s decision and for their meek reaction; there must have been someone they’ve oppressed one day for the cycle of oppression to turn back on them like so… I’d like to start with a historical background on Musa (AS). Musa (AS) was the third son of Ukabed and Imran son of Levi brother of Yusuf (AS) (Joseph).

Both Levi and Yusuf were the sons of old Ya’qub (AS) (Jacob). Musa (AS) and the Israelites of Egypt were believers; however, Egypt was never their hometown. The story of how the Israelites settled in Egypt dates back 400 years from the time of Musa (AS). It all started with Yusuf (AS), the first Israeli to reach Egypt as a toddler and be brought up in the king’s palace. Yusuf was born with the gift of interpretation of dreams; he foresaw in one of the king’s dreams the seven-year famine and thus the country was able to take precautions for the drought beforehand.

Afterwards, Yusuf’s insight and wisdom were appreciated all over the palace. They were also desperately needed through the world financial crisis that troubled the pharaoh of Egypt at that time. The pharaoh was in fact a Hyksos king who was desperate to find a talented financial minister to guide Egypt through the crisis; however, no help was to be hoped for from an Egyptian because the Egyptians hated the unjust Hyksos and their cruel reign. Therefore, Yusuf (AS) stepped up and the pharaoh was anxious to help a non-Egyptian attain social rank. The Hyksos were very prejudiced and very cruel and unjust to the Egyptians.

It may seem that Yusuf (AS) joined the oppressor’s side, but actually Yusuf (AS) used his power to proclaim all people equals and ease the hatred between the Hyksos and the Egyptians. He set up a single trade law that the two parties had to abide by. Justice was finally being delivered and Egypt survived the financial crisis under Yusuf’s guidance.

Yusuf was known as the greatest financial minister who ever lived and was beloved by both the Egyptians and the Hyksos; thus, the king was more than willing to grant him his wish to have his family over as guests in Egypt. Yusuf’s family of 60 Israelis were offered a land that belonged to the Egyptian people at the heart of the fertile planes of River Nile, but the ever-just Yusuf (AS) refused to accept the king’s offer so as not to rip the Egyptians of their land. He rather preferred an un-inhabited land in the desert for him and his people, the land of Gassan.

Yusuf’s family lived for years as respected guests out of love and gratitude for the great Yusuf. However, Yusuf (AS) knew that his brothers would not adopt his attitude towards the Egyptians after him. Before his death, Yusuf (AS) predicted that some day along the Israeli line would come a man who would bring justice about again and save the Israeli people from degradation which would be the inevitable outcome of their unjustness. And so Yusuf (AS) died leaving a growing family of Israelis; his prediction came to pass and his brothers started siding with the Hyksos and lending a deaf ear to the Egyptian rights. Years after, no trace of Yusuf’s justness was left in the Israelis; the Hyksos and the Israelis took turns sucking the blood of the people of Egypt.

This continued until salvation came for the Egyptians at the hands of Ahmos, an Egyptian military leader who banished the Hyksos from Egypt and chased them off into the deserts and literally cut them into pieces until they existed no longer. Then, the eternal cycle began and the oppressors became oppressed; Ahmos turned to the Hyksos allies, the Israelis. Their punishment involved six cruel phases through which they were degraded to almost nothing. First, a new law was issued stating that no Israeli was free and they were enslaved just like they allowed the Hyksos to enslave the Egyptians before. Second, they were banished from the land Gassan. Third, they were forced to inhabit mud houses on the banks of River Nile. Fourth, they were torn apart into two communities in the north and south of the country. Fifth, they were prohibited from getting education whatsoever and finally, they were put to hard work around the clock for no pay.

A map of ancient Egypt shows River Nile flowing through the country’s heart, starting way up in the north and ending deep down in the south. Extending on its bank were the Jewish communities in the north and south of the country and on the same bank at the center of the country was the royal palace in the country’s capital Bra’aa mafiis. Bra’aa in the ancient Egyptian tongue stands for the home of Ra, the god whose earthly incarnation is the pharaoh Ramses.

Ramses ruled during the darkest times for the Israeli people. He was the pharaoh who ordered to kill the male infants of the Israelis; he allowed his men to have their way with Israeli women and to burn down the Israeli house. Their souls were weakened and wounded so deep that they trembled to the sound of Ramses’ name. Their oppression was really beyond imagination that they stood watching all that being done to them and were too scared to even ask why.

However, Musa’s mother managed to escape the king’s men with Musa (AS) on her hands and ran to the Nile bank. She put her baby in a wooden box and let it go with the flow. The water carried the box from the southern quarter to the royal quarter where our story begins.

I hope the concept of the never-ending cycle is clear; today’s oppressor is tomorrows oppressed. Nothing distorts the human spirits and extinguishes human pride like fear and degradation. Musa (AS) had a tough mission at hand trying to pump life into the hearts of a nation that the pharaohs took turns at sucking life out of for ages. Supported by Allah, he succeeded, and the meek prayers of the Israeli mothers were eventually answered. Finally: never be the oppressor and never perform an act of unjustness.

Musa’s (AS) Birth

Do everything you can + Tawakkul = Victory and protection from Allah (SWT).

“Ta, Sîn, Mîm (These are the names of letters of the Arabic alphabet and only Allah knows their meaning here). Those (Literally: that) are the ayat (Verses, signs) of the Evident Book. We recite to you (something) of the tiding of Mûsa (Moses) and Firaawn (Pharaoh) with the Truth, for a people who believe. Surely Firaawn had exalted himself in the land and made its population into sects, deeming a section of them weak, constantly slaying their sons and (sparing) alive their women. Surely he was one of the corruptors.” (TMQ[4], 28:1-4)

Firaawn saw in a dream that a boy was born who would snatch away his kingdom from him, so he felt threatened and started killing all the new born boys to the extent that he killed a thousand boys before Musa (AS) was born. Firaawn had a strict plan in place to ensure that no new born baby boy survived. He kept track of all the pregnant women in the city and secretly marked their houses so that when the mother gives birth, he would send his soldiers to surprise the mother by brutally killing the baby and throwing him in the Nile River as soon as he is born. (No wonder why Firaawn died from drowning in the sea himself). Also, random house searches and spies were used to uncover hiding mothers and baby boys. So what was Musa’s (AS) mother going to do in these tough circumstances? She practically followed the tawakkul formula we mentioned earlier. She thought of a plan with her brave daughter Maryam, who would stand by her brother and mother courageously. They also involved their neighbor who would exchange places with Musa’s mother just before the random checks were made in their houses, since Maryam was always monitoring the soldiers to be prepared before they came by rushing her mother into the bushes. This was a very tiring and tense exercise since they had to be on alert for nine straight months, 24 hours a day to ensure the protection of Musa’s (AS) birth. This was the first part of the formula, where they did everything they could and now the remaining part of the formula was also needed, which was tawakkul on Allah (SWT). After nine months, Musa (AS) was born with a very special gift from Allah (SWT) which was that anyone who would see him would immediately love him. “And I cast on you belovedness from Me” (TMQ, 20:39) This shows us how much Allah (SWT) loved him and how much we should love him as well. Can you imagine that Musa’s (AS) mother had to give birth in silence with all the pains of delivery a woman goes through, and they had to cover Musa’s (AS) mouth to prevent his crying from being heard by Firaawn’s people. “And We revealed to Mûsa’s mother, (saying), “Suckle him; so, when you fear for him, then cast him in the main; and do not fear, nor grieve. Surely We will turn him back to you, and will make him one of the Emissaries.” (TMQ, 28:7)

Let us go to the Nile River to live the moment and to really understand the circumstances Musa’s (AS) mother went through. Note that Musa’s (AS) mother was not a Prophet and that she was a simple mother with strong faith, and yet Allah (SWT) revealed to her two commands, two prohibitions and two glad tidings. The first command was to “suckle him” so that he may recognize her milk later and to show us the lovely relationship between a mother and her child. The second was to “cast him in the main”. The two prohibitions were: “do not fear, nor grieve”. The two glad tidings were: “Surely We will turn him back to you, and will make him one of the Emissaries.” This revelation was not like the revelations of Prophets; rather it was a feeling that filled her heart with conviction and tawakkul. One would imagine that Allah (SWT) would ask the mother to hug or hide the child in protection from the enemy, however, when you are dealing with Al-Wakeel )the Ultimate Trustee( you should do what He tells you without questioning and with full submission.

Can you put yourself in her shoes?

Musa’s (AS) mother made a basket and put Musa (AS) in it and cast him in the river. For those of you who are unemployed and for the mothers who are suffering with the upbringing of their children, where is your tawakkul? We are at the Nile River spot to really understand the situation with the strong water currents and the big risk Musa’s (AS) mother took, since the basket would never come back to her and there was always a chance of Musa (AS) falling in the river and being eaten by fish. Thousands of mothers lost their children due to Firaawn’s injustice, but Musa’s (AS) mother had true tawakkul and that is what made all the difference. We must however know that there is a big difference between theory and actual practice.

Musa’s (AS) mother showed some hesitance and so a second revelation came to her to deal with the state of emergency since Firaawn’s people were coming. Allah (SWT) says in Surat Ta-Ha what can be translated as, “As We revealed what was revealed to your mother: (Saying), ‘“Hurl him in the coffer, then hurl it in the main; so let the main cast it on the shore.” (TMQ, 20:38-39)

Musa’s (AS) sister was then appointed by the mother to follow-up on the task by tracking the basket. “And she said to his sister, “Trail him,” and so she beheld him from afar, and they were not aware.” (TMQ, 28:11) It was Allah’s (SWT) will that the basket would end up in Firaawn’s palace, and so Maryam went back to her mother to give her the bad news. “And the heart-sight of Mûsa’s mother became empty, (and) decidedly she indeed almost declared him, had We not braced her heart, that she might be of the believers.” (TMQ, 28:10)

So what was the wisdom behind Musa ending up in Firaawn’s palace? It could be that this was the best protection for Musa (AS). Musa’s (AS) duty later would be to free Bani Israel from the injustice of Firaawn and so he had to set an example by freeing himself first, which could only be possible by being in Firaawn’s palace. The other reason could be that Musa (AS) had to be educated to bring reform and the best source of education was no other than the house of Firaawn.

“Then the house of Firaawn picked him out to be an enemy to them and (a source of) grief. Surely Firaawn and Haman and their hosts were sinners.” (TMQ, 28:8) It was the will of Al-Wakeel that Firaawn’s wife Asia’s timing to take the baby before the soldiers was perfect timing. “And the wife of Firaawn said, “He is comfort (Literally: for the eye to get steady and settle down, to be refreshed) to the eye for me and for you. Do not kill him, (for) he may profit us, and we may take him to ourselves as a child.” And they were not aware.” (TMQ, 28:9)

Asia defended Musa (AS), and Allah (SWT) protected him with the weapon of love. As soon as Asia announced that Musa (AS) was not going to be killed and that he would be taken by them as a child, the baby started crying and now needed to be suckled. “And We had prohibited to him earlier wet-nurses. So she said, “Shall I indicate to you the family of a house who will sponsor him for you and advisably look after him?” (TMQ, 28:12)

Musa’s (AS) sister entered the palace with courage, and told them that she knew who would be able to suckle Musa (AS). Therefore, Musa’s (AS) mother was eventually brought into the palace to suckle the child, who is her own, and so she was appointed as the official foster mother of Musa (AS), which wwould earn her a decent salary. “So We turned him back to his mother so that she might comfort her eye and not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true; but most of them do not know.” (TMQ, 28:13).

Musa’s (AS) story could be divided into four stages:

The first preparation stage: (Childhood and youth) it lasted until he was 30 years old, and it took place in Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt.

The second preparation stage: It lasted for ten years and it took place in Madian.
The first accomplishment stage: It lasted fifteen years as he was facing Pharaoh in Egypt.
The second accomplishment stage: It lasted about ten or fifteen years and it took place in Sinai, Jordan, and at the Palestinian borders.

That means that Musa (AS) had lived seventy years into delivering his message.

Today’s episode will show how Allah (SWT) had prepared Musa (AS) to be a leader by adding ten traits to his personality. Anyone who wants to be a leader has to make sure that he has these ten traits.

Musa (AS) has spent his childhood in Egypt on the banks of the Nile. He spent it between the luxury of Pharaoh’s palace and the simplicity of Israelite houses. Musa’s (AS) mother had insisted that he should be raised in her home. Although Asia has tried to let him be raised in Pharaoh’s palace. She had to accept Musa’s mother’s wish especially since she was the only who could breast feed him. Musa (AS) had a lot of memories of his early life on the Nile banks. The name Musa in the ancient Egyptian language means someone who is saved from water; it also has another meaning which is the son of water. Asia was the one who gave him this name. Musa (AS) had spent his early childhood among the care and love of two mothers (his real mother and Asia). Allah (SWT) wanted him to be subjected to the kind of intensive love to build a stable character. From this point we could notice the first trait of a leader which is mercy. A leader without mercy would be a tyrant like Hitler, but Musa (AS) was a leader raised by Allah (SWT).

After weaning Musa (AS) moved to live in Pharaoh’s house as he was his father by adoption. His life in Pharaoh’s palace had helped in developing three traits of his personality as a leader. The first trait is the high educational background that he could not ever gain except in Pharaoh’s house. The second trait is the strong muscular body as the Egyptian took good care of sports and body health. The third trait is dignity and free spirit that made him not to fear Pharaoh or anybody.

When Musa (AS) was about eight years old, Asia decided to tell him that she was not his mother and she did not know who his real mother was.

Asia allowed Musa (AS) to visit his foster mother who was his unknown real mother; that made a strong relationship grow between him and his brother Harun (AS) (Aaron) and sister Maryam (AS) “Mary”. Despite the simplicity of Israelites houses, Musa (AS) found warmth among them, he felt that he did not belong to Pharaoh’s palace. His mother began to tell him about one of the most important figures in Israelite history which was Yusuf. Yusuf was popular for both Israelites and Pharaoh as he saved the Egyptian economy.

For that reason, Musa’s (AS) smart mother has chosen to tell him about Yusuf who became Musa’s (AS) ideal. She also mentioned to Musa (AS) that Yusuf was from her ancestors to make Musa (AS) wonder what made them reach such level of humiliation. She made all the preparations to tell her son that she was his mother. Could you imagine how he as a kid had to tolerate such kinds of secrets? Eventually she revealed to him the whole secret with all of its details. Musa’s (AS) personality could tolerate such kinds of shocks because Allah (SWT) has given him a strong spirit that could face all the circumstances.

His mother convinced him to stay at Pharaoh’s palace to avoid Pharaoh’s outrage and to receive a good education. His mother helped in shaping his stable personality. She was a smart and extraordinary woman that is why three of her children’s names were mentioned in Qur’an.

His life in Pharaoh’s palace and Israelite homes had added flexibility to his character. It helped him to be aware of the culture and the life of the Pharaoh and the Israelites as well. That created an open minded character who could deal with different cultures and social background.

Allah (SWT) had gathered the eight traits of the leader that we have mentioned in our episode in only one Ayah. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as:” And as soon as he reached full age and matured, (Literally: leveled himself in body and mind) We brought him judgment and knowledge; and thus We recompense the fair-doers. “ (TMQ[4], 24:14).

The last two traits that have to be found in a leader are that he should have a goal and aim in life. Musa’s (AS) aim was to save Israelites. People think Musa (AS) had become Israelites savior because Allah (SWT) had charged Musa (AS) to that mission, but the fact is that Allah (SWT) had charged Musa (AS) to that mission because Musa (AS) had chosen that to be his aim in life.

The last trait that should be in a leader is having good companions. Musa’s (AS) companion was his brother Harun (AS), he was his supporter in accomplishing his mission and in worshipping Allah (SWT). He was his companion in worldly life and in the hereafter.

In a nut shell the traits of a leader can be summarized to be: Mercy, strong muscular body, refined education, flexibility, good companionship, free spirit, having an ideal, ability to coexist, to have a goal in life and courage.

by Amr Khaled, Translated by Dar al Tarjama, source

Surat Al-Kahf is a Makkan surah. It was revealed after surat Al-Ghaashiyah, but in the order of the Qur’an it comes after surat Al-Isra’. It consists of 110 ayahs.

Threads for One Fabric

Surat Al-Kahf consists of four stories: The story of the people of the cave; that of the man with the two gardens; that of Prophet Musa (AS) (Moses) and Al-Khidr; and that of Dhul Qarnain. Several ayahs follow each story for further comment. Thus some questions are to be raised : What do these stories then have in common? Why is the surah named surat Al-Kahf? Why should it be read every Friday?

The Advantages and Rewards for whoever reads surat Al-Kahf

The Prophet (SAWS) said, “He who reads surat Al-Kahf on Friday, Allah will light for him radiance that stretches from his feet to the holy Ka’ba.”4.

The Prophet (SAWS) also said, “…and he who reads the last ten ayahs of surat Al-Kahf, Al-Dajjal will not be able to harm him.”5.

And in another Hadith, “…whoever among you encounters him – Al-Dajjal – should read upon him the opening ayahs of surat Al-Kahf.”6.

What is Al-Dajjal’s relationship with surat Al-Kahf and what do the stories within the surah have in common? Let’s then have a brief survey of the four above mentioned stories.

The cave of mercy (more details can be read here: The Companions of the Cave, Cave (Al Kahf) Chapter: Choice and change)

The first story talks about young men who believed in Allah (SWT) and called to Him despite the fact that the tribe they lived in was ruled by an unjust king who did not believe in Allah (SWT). The young men presented their religion (surrender to Allah as an only One Lord) to their people, but the the latter rejected them. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And We made their hearts firm and strong (with the light of Faith in Allah and bestowed upon them patience to bear the separation of their kith and kin and dwellings) when they stood up and said: “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, never shall we call upon any iIlah (god) other than Him; if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity in disbelief.These our people have taken for worship illah (gods) other than Him (Allah). Why do they not bring for them a clear authority? And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah… but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:14-15).

The young men began to call people to Allah (SWT), but they were denied and oppressed. Thus, Allah (SWT) inspired them to seek refuge in the Cave. Allah (SWT)

says what can be translated as, “…then seek refuge in the Cave; your Lord will open a way for you from His Mercy and will make easy for you your affair (i.e. will give you what you will need of provision, dwelling)… but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:16).

Allah (SWT) supported them with great miracles: they dwelled in the cave for “three hundred (solar) years, adding nine (for lunar years)” (TMQ, 18:25). Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “…And you might have seen the sun, when it rose, declining to the right from their Cave, and when it set, turning away from them to the left, while they lay in the midst of the Cave…but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:17).

“And you would have thought them awake, whereas they were asleep. And We turned them on their right and on their left sides…” (TMQ, 18: 18). All of these miracles were accomplished for the sake of protecting these young men. In fact, they awoke 309 years later to find that the people around them had become believers and that they were now part of a new society, filled with faith.

Arrogance challenging faith (more details can be read here: The trial of wealth-the story of the man with the two gardens- Kahf (Cave) chapter)

The second story is that of a man upon whom Allah (SWT) bestowed His blessings and bounty. The man became absorbed in his new fortune, forgetting completely who granted it to him, and responding with challenge and doubt. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And put forward to them the example of two men: unto one of them We had given two gardens of grapes, and We had surrounded both with date-palms; and had put between them green crops (cultivated fields)…And he went into his garden while in a state (of pride and disbelief) unjust to himself. He said: “I think not that this will ever perish… but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:32-35). Money had seduced him and distracted him from turning to Allah (SWT). “And I think not the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back to my Lord, (on the Day of Resurrection), I surely shall find better than this when I return to Him.” His companion said to him during the talk with him: “Do you disbelieve in Him Who created you out of dust (i.e. your father Adam), then out of Nutfah (mixed semen drops of male and female discharge), then fashioned you into a man?” (TMQ, 18:36-37). The fate of the man whose money left him arrogant and conceited: “So his fruits were encircled (with ruin). And he remained clapping his hands (with sorrow) over what he had spent upon it, while it was all destroyed on its trellises, and he could only say: “Would that I had ascribed no partners to my Lord” (TMQ, 18:42).

How to behave with regard to Allah’s predestination of events (more details can be read here: The Story of Musa (Moses) and al-Khidr: Knowledge and Learning)

The third story is that of Prophet Musa (AS) and Al-Khidr. Prophet Musa (AS) was asked by his people about who was the most knowledgeable on earth. Prophet Musa (AS) replied that he himself was. He thought that he had enough knowledge to earn that title, especially because he was one of Allah’s favored Prophets. However, Allah (SWT) revealed to him that there was a learned man elsewhere. For this reason, He commanded him (AS) to go to where the two seas met. Musa (AS), accompanied by a boy servant, traveled a great distance until he was overcome by fatigue. He then told his servant, “Truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey” (TMQ, 18:62).

He was extremely exhausted by the time he met up with the righteous and more knowing man. The type of knowledge that man had is in fact the trust in Allah’s predestination: the way Allah predetermines and arranges the course of events in life. There is also wisdom in Allah’s predestination which makes necessary for one to know for certain that Allah alone handles life matters. This knowledge, in short, is learning how to know Allah (SWT) in the correct way in so far as His handling of life matters is concerned.

Before Prophet Musa (AS) could accompany Al-Khidr on his journey, the latter set forth a few conditions. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Ask me not about anything till I myself mention of it to you… but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:70). Prophet Musa (AS) replied, “If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught” (TMQ, 18:69).

The trip was marked by three incidents which seem very negative or malicious at first glance:

1- The ship Al-Khidr pierced because there was an unjust king who was taking away every ship by force.
2- The child Al-Khidr killed because he was not dutiful towards his parents who were righteous. His disobedience caused them too much trouble.
3- The wall Al-Khidr rebuilt because it was damaged in part, without recompense for his work especially in a town he wasn’t warmly welcomed. In fact, a treasure belonging to two orphan boys was buried beneath it. It would have been stolen had he (Al Khidr) not built the wall.

Allah’s wisdom seems to be not apparent at first glance in the way the three above-cited incidents are arranged; Al-Khidr’s acts seem not to be justified. This is to prove to the believers that Allah (SWT) may handle matters in ways we may not understand. Consequently, we may neither grasp the wisdom behind this nor appreciate the goodness or the positive effects this may have on our life. This is the type of knowledge, not found in any book, that Allah (SWT) wishes to teach not only to Prophet Musa (AS) but to us as well.

Verily, We established him in the earth (more deatails can be read here: The Story of Thul-Qarnayn in Cave (Al Kahf) chapter: Reform)

The last story is that of Dhul-Qarnain, the just king who spread truth, justice and goodness on earth. He had also the material means (scientific and technological) needed to achieve success and progress in life.
Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Verily, We established him in the earth, and We gave him the means of everything…but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:84). The king traveled eastwards and westwards to spread guidance on earth and fill it with justice and righteousness. On his journeys, he reached people who scarcely understand a saying. They said to him, “O Dhul-Qarnain! Verily Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?” (TMQ, 18:94).

Despite the fact that he was capable of building the barrier alone, he asked for help so that they may learn a lesson from it. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier…but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:95). He built the barrier, which has remained standing until today. However, we do not know where the barrier actually is, and thus will not be able to know where Ya’juj and Ma’juj’s are located until their appearance before the Day of Judgment.

The connection between the four stories

We must remember that the Qur’an does not just narrate stories in quite a random manner; they rather form an integral structure and serve a specific meaning. For example, the story of Prophet Musa (AS) does not mention the Pharaoh or the miracle of the stick because the meaning intended in this case is different from that found in either of those stories. What is then the thread which ties the four aforementioned stories together?

The stories talk about the major trials and temptations in human life:

1- The trial of religion: the case of people’s evil acts towards a believer in the form of harm, torture or threats which may cause his loss of faith, deviation from religion or fear. This was the trial the people of the cave experienced and passed.

2- The trial of wealth: this was the trial of the man with the two gardens, who was so proud of his wealth that he considered the hereafter not to be true. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And I think not the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back to my Lord, (on the Day of Resurrection), I surely shall find better than this when I return to Him…but no one knows its true meanings except Allah “ (TMQ, 18:36).

3- The trial of knowledge: The case of a man who boasts of the knowledge he possesses to the extent that he feels arrogant and hence forgets about modesty. Such a man may learn things of no benefit to him or to his community. Or else he may misuse the knowledge he was granted in a way that may harm him or the society in which he lives. The trial of knowledge is illustrated in the story of Prophet Musa (AS) and Al-Khidr. Prophet Musa (AS) thought that no one on earth was more knowledgeable than him. However, once he realized that this was untrue, he traveled a long distance to meet the more knowing man and to learn from him in a truly respectful and modest relation of a pupil to his teacher. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Musa said to him (Khidr): “May I follow you so that you teach me something of that knowledge (guidance and true path) which you have been taught (by Allah)? But no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:66).

4- The trial of power: The example of a man who, given all the means to achieve material and technological success to push civilization forward and to gain authority and power, denies Allah, abuses power and oppresses his people. In contrast to this sets the story of Dhul-Qarnain. The latter is presented as a just king who attributes his wealth and power to Allah (SWT) alone. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “He said: “As for him (a disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah) who does wrong, we shall punish him, and then he will be brought back unto his Lord, Who will punish him with a terrible torment (Hell). “But as for him who believes (in Allah’s Oneness) and works righteousness, he shall have the best reward, (Paradise), and we (Dhul-Qarnain) shall speak unto him mild words (as instructions)…but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:87-88). Dhul-Qarnain said: “This is a mercy from my Lord…” (TMQ, 18:98).

The stimulus of temptation

The four basic trials and temptations mentioned above represent the thread that tie the four stories together in surat Al-Kahf. Half-way in the surah, between the first two stories and the two remaining others, we are told that the stimulus of temptation is the enemy of Allah (SWT), namely, Iblis (Satan). Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “Will you then take him (Iblîs) and his offspring as protectors and helpers rather than Me while they are enemies to you? What an evil is the exchange for the Zâlimûn (polytheists, and wrong-doers)…but no one knows its true meanings except Allah” (TMQ, 18:50). Who, in their right mind, would take Allah’s enemy and theirs as a master and defender?

Protection from temptation

The main idea of the surah is protection from temptation. As it is mentioned in the Hadith before, the surah safeguards one from the greatest trial in the history of Mankind, from Prophet Adam (AS) until the Day of Judgment. It is that of Al-Dajjal. In this respect, the Prophet (SAWS) says: “Between the creation of Adam and the Day of Judgment, there exists no greater trial than that of Al-Dajjal.”7 A question is then to be raised : What is the connection between the trial of Al-Dajjal and the four aforementioned trials and temptations?

Al-Dajjal will appear before the Day of Judgment and present the four temptations. He will try to push people to abandon their faith and will ask them to worship him and not Allah (SWT). Allah (SWT) will give him the ability to perform miracles: Al-Dajjal then may promise to bring to life one’s mother and father if one rejects Allah (SWT) and believes in him instead. Everybody will be tempted except those blessed by Allah (SWT). Al-Dajjal has the temptation of wealth: he simply commands the sky to rain down on a particular piece of land and vegetation then flourishes. He will be able to transform a barren desert land into a beautiful green garden. He also has the temptation of knowledge: he captivates people with what he knows which leads some of them to believe in him. Finally, he has the temptation of power: he subjugates people to his strength and authority in many parts of the earth except Makkah and Al-Madinah. These are serious temptations that all Muslims, in all parts of the land and throughout all of time, must beware of. Reading surat Al-Kahf and understanding the meanings within it, especially the four stories and the divine messages they carry can do this.

Objectives of the surah: Protection from trial and temptation

The four stories in the surah are linked together through the string of trials. Each story is followed by comments which point out the lessons to be learned from it and how we can protect ourselves from trials and temptations. This is the magnificence of the Qur’an; it does not tell stories for their own sake but to serve the end of the surah namely protection from trials and temptations and to emphasize the lessons to be learned after each story. In this respect, the whole thrust of the surah is to make the following message crystal clear: protecting oneself from the various forms of temptation. One may wonder how this can be made.

‘Lifeboats’

1- The importance of having righteous companions:

The first trial is that of religion which was mentioned in the story of the people of the cave. In order for one to remain steadfast in one’s religious conduct and be protected from this trial, surat Al-Kahf advises:

a) Be in righteous company: “And keep yourself (O Muhammad, SAWS) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, and other righteous deeds) morning and afternoon, seeking His Face; and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world” (TMQ, 18:28). Having good companions in life and striving to keep such companionship helps one to remain committed to his religious principles.

b) Remembering the hereafter: The hereafter is the ultimate destiny of both believers and disbelievers. By thinking continuously about it the Muslim protects himself from the various temptations he experiences “Verily, We have prepared for the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers.), a Fire whose walls will be surrounding them (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah). And if they ask for help (relief, water), they will be granted water like boiling oil that will scald their faces. Terrible is the drink, and an evil Murtafaq (dwelling, resting place.)!”(TMQ, 18:29).

2- Avoidance of Becoming Attached to this Life :

There are two lessons to be learned regarding protection from the trial of wealth to which the man with the two gardens was subjected:

1. Understanding the true purpose of this life: This is mentioned very clearly in the Ayah coming immediately after the story of the man with the two gardens. “And put forward to them the example of the life of this world.” I hereby invite you, my Muslim brothers, to take a long and contemplating look, , at the type of life you are attached to : “it is like the water (rain) which We send down from the sky,” so what happened to it “And the vegetation of the earth mingles with it,” so simply and so quickly and what else “But (later) it becomes dry and broken pieces, which the winds scatter. And Allah is Able to do everything” (TMQ, 18:45). The ayah lays out a picture in which we see quick flashes from the beginning of life to its middle and then to its end. The stages pass by quickly, and are tied together by the Arabic letter “fa” (meaning ‘and’) [And …mingles... becomes dry and broken pieces] which implies quick vanishing and thus refer to the nature of life itself. This life is passing; do not become attached to it, my brother in Islam, if you really want to be protected from trials and temptations.

2. Remembering the hereafter: Remember in particular the time you will stand in front of Allah, The Compeller. It is as if remembering the hereafter is a basic requirement one should meet in order to be protected from all trials (the trial of religion as well as that of wealth): “And (remember) the Day We shall cause the mountains to pass away (like clouds of dust), and you will see the earth as a leveled plain, and we shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind” (TMQ, 18:47).

“And they will be set before your Lord in (lines as) rows, (and Allah will say): “Now indeed, you have come to Us as We created you the first time…” (TMQ, 18:48).

“And the Book (one’s Record) will be placed (in the right hand for a believer in the Oneness of Allah, and in the left hand for a disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah), and you will see the Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists, sinners), fearful of that which is (recorded) therein. They will say: “Woe to us! What sort of Book is this that leaves neither a small thing nor a big thing, but has recorded it with numbers!” And they will find all that they did, placed before them, and your Lord treats no one with injustice” (TMQ, 18:49).

3- Humility:

To be granted protection from the trial of knowledge, one must be humble first to Allah (SWT) then in case one is a learner, to the teacher (the example of Musa’s relation to Al Khidr). This can be found in ayah 69: “Musa said (to Al Khidr) despite the fact that he was one of the favored Prophets of Allah (SWT) and the only one to speak with Him directly: “If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught.” (TMQ, 18:69). So beware of arrogance which may stem from the fact that you have high academic degrees, that you have encyclopedic knowledge or that you have learnt the Qur’an by heart . This may keep you from being humble to Allah (SWT).

4- Sincerity:

The trial of power can be overcome through sincerity and humility to Allah (SWT) and by attributing one’s power and strength to Him: “(Dhul-Qarnain) said: “This is a mercy from my Lord…” (TMQ, 18:98).

The surah warns those who associate partners with Allah on the one hand and those who are not sincere in their acts of worship (SWT) on the other. Allah says what can be translated as : “Say (O Muhammad): “Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? “Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. “They are those who deny the Ayat (proofs, evidence, ayahs, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter). So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them” (TMQ, 18:103-105). This ayah is directed towards the polytheists, it warns them against associating partners with Allah (SWT). It concludes with the instruction for the believers to be sincere in their worship of Allah (SWT) alone. The Ayah addresses both categories in a parallel way.
“So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord” (TMQ, 18:110).

Whoever seeks Allah’s full acceptance of his deeds in the hereafter must satisfy to the following conditions : his work in this life must be done correctly in conformity with the Sunnah (sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad SAWS), and must be wholly dedicated to Allah (SWT). These two conditions are mentioned in the closing ayah of surat Al-Kahf.

The magnificence of the surah

Throughout the surah, we see many comments and brilliant remarks that increase our love and attachment to the Qur’an and to this surah, and at the same time serve the objective and core idea of the surah.

A lot of movement and positiveness

It is noticeable that there is a lot of movement in the surah. All of the stories in the surah deal with lively people who have constructive plans: ranging from the people of the cave who left their homes and their families and sought refuge in the cave (“…then seek refuge in the Cave”), to Prophet Musa’ (AS) journey to the junction of the two seas until he was worn out (“truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey”). We also see much movement when he accompanied Al-Khidr on his journey: “So they both proceeded, till, when they embarked the ship, he (Al-Khidr) scuttled it… Then they both proceeded, till they met a boy, and he (Al-Khidr) killed him… Then they both proceeded, till, when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food…” (TMQ, 18:71-77).

Movement is also apparent in the story of Dhul-Qarnain: “So he followed a way” (TMQ, 18:85). Not only that, but he traveled the earth from east to west: “Until, when he came to the rising place of the sun…Until, when he reached between two mountains” (TMQ, 18:90-93). And he directed the people he was helping: “So help me with strength (of men)” (TMQ, 18:95). They did not simply stand there and watch him building the barrier, they were asked to assist him for it will make them acquire a certain know-how.

This all goes to prove that we can protect ourselves from trials and temptations by being active and positive and not by giving in and being passive. If a person is harmed or hurt in a particular place or region on earth, he should move to another place for the sake of practicing his religion. It is for this reason that Islam decrees immigration for the sake of preserving one’s religion (faith). The surah hints at this issue through the story of the people of the cave: the latters “immigrated” and sought refuge in the cave.
It is a pleasant matter that this surah is to be read on Friday which is a holiday for the Muslims. Instead of being idle and lazy on that day, the Muslims should read it and thus learn how to be active and positive because passivity makes them easily a prey to trials and temptations.

The Qur’an and protection from trials and temptations

It is interesting to note that the surah starts and ends with reference to the the Qur’an because it is a shield against temptation provided that we read it and understand the core ideas and objectives of its surahs.

“All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad, SAWS) the Book (the Qur’an), and has not placed therein any crookedness” (TMQ, 18:1).

“Say (O Muhammad, SAWS, to mankind): “If the sea were ink for (writing) the Words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the Words of my Lord would be finished…” (TMQ, 18:109).

In other words, nothing surpasses Allah’s (SWT) words and actions. The first and foremost helper and protector is His Book: allusions to this truth are made both before and after the four trials and temptations.
Da’wa (missionary activity meaning the Call to Allah) and Protection From Trials and Temptations
Another interesting point in the surah is the fact that the four stories mentioned in it involve all of the aspects of the Call to Allah (SWT) :

Young men calling a king (the people of the cave).
A man calling his companion (the man with the two gardens).
A teacher calling his pupil (Al-Khidr and Prophet Musa (AS).
A king calling his people (Dhul-Qarnain).

This carries a very important meaning : the call to Allah (SWT) along with one’s attachment to the Qur’an act significantly to protect one from trials and temptations.

Believing in the unseen

We notice that the mentioning of the unseen is found in many parts of the stories in the surah. The story of the people of the cave is full of obscurities: how long they stayed in the cave, the location of the cave, and their number. There is an entire ayah (ayah 22) that evokes the controversy about their number …why?

There is also a certain vagueness about the location of the barrier built by Dhul-Qarnain, and where Ya’juj and Ma’juj will appear, as well as the actions of Al-Khidr and Prophet Musa’ (AS) questions…why is this so?
It is as if the surah reminds us that Allah alone knows the unseen, that situations in life appear in a way we don’t understand. The surah hence urges us to have trust in Allah and surrender to Him so that we can be assured protection from temptation insh’Allah (if Allah wills).

The cave of da’wa

There remains one last question: Why is the surah called surat Al-Kahf?

By simply hearing the word ‘cave’, a person may feel afraid, terrified and confused. So when the phrase “seek refuge in the cave” is uttered, two things are associated in his mind: darkness and the feeling of fear in such a dark place. However, Allah (SWT) makes the cave mentioned in the ayah a safe place and sends down his mercy upon the young men : “…then seek refuge in the Cave; your Lord will open a way for you from His Mercy” (TMQ, 18:16).

Allah (SWT), who alone knows the unseen, predetermines the course of events in a way Man totally ignores and can never predict as in the case of the young men who sought refuge in the deserted cave and ignored what will happen to them. surat Al-Kahf (the cave) was called so in order to make Man aware of his ignorance of the unseen and to tell the Muslim : “leave the unseen to Allah and put your trust in Him. Just as the young men sought refuge in the cave and Allah sent down his mercy upon them, do seek refuge in the ‘cave of Da’wa (the call to Allah) and surrender your situation to Allah (SWT) so that He will spread for you of His mercy and pave the way for you to obtain whatever you like.

عجبى

قريت امبارح وسمعت كمان فى كذا برنامج اخبارى

انهم قررو ابعاد الداعية الكبير عمرو خالد من مصر مرة اخرى

ولسبب اغرب من الخيال

لتعارض نشطاته مع نشطات لجنة السؤسات

او لجنة السياسات

مش هاتفرق كتير الاتنين ملهمش لازمة وكلنا عارفين

بجد عجبى

البلد دى ااااااااااااااااااااايه عايزة ايه ؟؟؟ الحكومة بتعمل كدا ليه؟؟

تنفى عمرو خالد وتسيب هيفاء

“بعد أن هُتِك شرفُ الأمة واستبيح حرمة مساجد مصر بعد الأزهر للرقص الداعر، نستدفع بك يا سيادة الرئيس اليوم غضبة ربنا الماحقة، ولعنة ربنا الساحقة”. فماذا بعد أن يطرد المصلون من مسجد الحسين لترقص بصحنه وعلى أرضه داعرة تدنس شرف دين الأمة ودينك يا سيادة الرئيس، بمثل تلك العبارات التي جاء عليها تثني جسمها، وتكسر أعطافها، وغنج ألفاظها وتأوّه عباراتها وهي تسب أشرف أئمتنا وأعلامنا فتقول الساقطة وفي ساحة مسجد الحسين ‘يلعن أبوه شافعي ومالكي وأبو حنيفة”.

شوفو هنا الموضوع ده

هل من مجيب ؟؟؟

بلعكس بكرة يطلع جائزة افضل ممثلة فى فيلم استباح الحرمات وذادت الفاظه تييييييييت بمعنى الكلمة

واللى مشفش ممكن يبص على التريلر وهو يشوف ايه اللى بيحصل

لو ده الفن يبقى ملعون ملعون ملعون

نعمل ايه فى مخرج بيجيب كتابه من قهاوى

نرجع لموضوعنا

لا ويقولك بيعارض نشطات لجنة السياسات فى الحزب الوطنى

الاخ الفاضل عمرو خالد

بيدعو للنهضة بشباب الامة

ايه نشطاتاتهم العكس؟؟؟

بيدعو لنبذ الخمور والمخدرات واصلاح الشباب

هما بينشرو المخدرات ,,, صح؟؟

ااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااه يا بلد قلبى بيتحرق كل يوم عليكى الف مرة

اه يا بلد محاوطة رقصينها ومطربينها ب 5 بودى جاردز وسايبين العلماء يتقتلو يوم ورا التانى

اه يا بلد بتصرف فى الهلث والسجون اكتر من العللم

اه يا بلد عايزا تتقدم لوراا

اه يا بلد ماشية بلمقلوب الكبير فيها واطى والواطى فيها كبير

اه يا بلد رقصينك اسيادك وعلمائك حرامية ومسجونين

مش عارف البلد دى وخدانة لفيــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــن؟؟؟؟

حسبى الله ونعم الوكيل

Esses caras são fodas, mandam no mundo praticamente, são eles:

1: Barack Obama
2: Hu Jintao
3: Nicolas Sarkozy
4-5-6: Economic Triumvirate
7: Gordon Brown
8: Angela Merkel
9: Vladimir Putin
10: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud
11: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
12: Kim Jong Il
13-14: The Clintons
15: Timothy Geithner
16: Gen. David Petraeus
17: Sonia Gandhi
18: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (olha o Lula ai Gente)
19: Warren Buffett
20: Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
21: Nuri al-Maliki
22-23: The Philanthropists
24: Nancy Pelosi
25: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
26: Mike Duke
27: Rahm Emanuel
28: Eric Schmidt
29: Jamie Dimon
30-31: Friends of Barack
32: Dominique Strauss-Kahn
33: Rex Tillerson
34: Steve Jobs
35: John Lasseter
36: Michael Bloomberg
37: Pope Benedict XVI
38: Katsuaki Watanabe
39: Rupert Murdoch
40: Jeff Bezos
41: Shahrukh Khan
42: Osama bin Laden
43: Hassan Nasrallah
44: Dr. Margaret Chan
45: Carlos Slim Helú
46: The Dalai Lama
47: Oprah Winfrey
48: Amr Khaled
49: E. A. Adeboye
50: Jim Rogers

Al-Mujaddidun

Yesterday, Amr Khaled, the celebrated Egyptian televangelist and–according to the Times–one of the 100 most influential people in the world, came to the American university in Cairo (AUC) to talk to AUCians about developing their communities, and being mujaddidun, renewers. Since I’m an alumni, I drove over to listen to what he has to say. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying he’s done a lot of great work and is always inspiring.

But poor Amr Khaled. He has so much hope, so much drive, and so much (misplaced?) faith in the audience–the youth of Egyptian society who have the means, the opportunity and the ability to change the country if they wanted. Too bad that it’s because they have the means and the ability–the money and the education–they just. don’t. want to.

Egypt, as I’ve mentioned before, is a very polarized country, in every which way, and money-wise is the first thing. You have the very, very rich, and the very, very poor. The middle class is almost non-existent.

The unfortunate fact of life is that people with a lot of money are usually less community-minded and more about me, me, me. Cairo is no exception. We may not have a lot of Paris Hiltons, but the Gossip Girl wannabes are more common than you might think. With a very few exceptions, I can safely say that a lot of rich Egyptian youth–those that are found in AUC–live in a shiny pink bubble, and most will stay there. When they graduate, the majority will work with their families, in a multinational, or simply up and leave the country. The brightest and best go abroad and flourish there. Many never come back.

Ok, so I’m rich, elhamduelala.

But, I’m not an empty airhead like so many of my fellow AUCians, and that’s mainly because of two reasons:

1) My family is very ‘new’ money: My dad is very unsophisticated and comes from a village in Upper Egypt. As such, he raised us in a very different way than most rich kids are raised, and for that I am supremely grateful. We grew up to appreciate money, understand it doesn’t come from the sky, and to not spend money like there’s no tomorrow. It means I am as comfortable eating kebda (liver) sandwiches from a cart in Imbaba as I am in Cairo’s trendiest restaurants. It means I understand where I came from and how lucky I am to be where I am today.

2) We have religion, which tells us ostentastiousness is bad, and that we will be asked not only where we got our money, but how we spent it and our time. We don’t party, drink, etc which have become the fashionable activities for Cairo’s elite. Islam also tells us that we live in this world as part of a family, community, and ummah. We aren’t living for ourselves, but for the world. It means we have to actually do stuff in the world, and not just exist. It means we have to change things and improve them, and not just pray and fast and live in isolation.

But it’s just so hard. I’ll be honest, it’s hard sometimes not to fall into a life of leisure. I think to myself sometimes when I don’t want to get up for work: “I don’t really need to work, why not bum around and spend my days being a social butterfly?”

The people Amr Khaled was talking about yesterday, Mujaddidun, people who will effect real change, are just so hard to find. He says his new show will feature 16 of them–16 young men and women who really want to change the world.

I wonder what they’re like? I wonder how do you get that drive to get up every day with the intention that you are going to do great things?

And I wonder how many of the people who turned up to see Amr Khaled will really go on to do great things, and not just work, marry, have kids, and die.

Ihre Gründer sind Freimaurer aus England und Amerika. Ihr Drahtzieher vor Ort war der weniger bekannte John Philby (Hempher – Geständnisse eines britischen Spion) -

der englische Freimaurer John Philby

bestens mit der Methodik der Khawarij vertraut, brauchte er nur noch ein paar willige kaltblütige Kreaturen im arabischen Raum zu suchen. Stichwort Najd dürfte ausreichen.

Diese Bewegung wurde erschaffen um die Muslime von Innen zu schwächen und somit zu kontrollieren.

Durch Fitna (Streit/ Zweitracht) Übertreibung in der Religion (Ghulu), geheuchelte Frömmigkeit (Nifaqa) und nicht zu letzt Verleumdung (Namima) bishin zu Mord und Totschlag sind die Eigenschaften dieser Freimaurer-Bewegung unter islamischen Deckmantel, der modernen Khawarij – nicht ganz korrekt auch als Wahabiten bezeichnet – klar erkennbar.

Der Zweck der wiederbelebten Khawarij-Bewegung ist es einzig und allein im Geheimen ihren wahren Dienstherren zu dienen.  Ob Diese nun moderne Freimaurer, chrisitanistische o. judaistische Extremisten-Bewegungen, Kapitalisten ö.ä. spielt keine Rolle – es sind auf jeden Fall Feinde aller  Muslime.

Die Muslime kannten bis dato so etwas wie Nationalismus, Kapitalismus, Staatsterror (Polizei-Überwachungs-Staaten, Polizeibrutalität,

Polizeibrutalität

erbarmungslose Verfolgung anders Denkender oder Regimegegner – wie zu Hitler’s Zeiten), geheime Verhörzentren (CIA Internierungslager,),  Mißhandlung von Gefangenen (Verschleppung, Abu Ghoraib, KZ-Bau – Guantanamo, Folter – Waterboarding) usw. definitiv nicht.

Dies wurde bis heute jedoch immer gesellschaftsfähiger durch die eingesetzen Gewaltherrscher (Taghut o. Tawaghit) und Tyrannen und Despoten in den jeweiligen “islamischen” Ländern.  Ebenso mit den eingesetzen Regierungsgelehrten oder Taghut-Gelehrten wie Bin Baaz, Uthaimeen, Albani etc. (man vergesse den Vater der Khawaritsch Abdul Wahhab nicht) – die alle im Dienste der Könige ohne Krone (einst herzlose adhablose Beduinen aus Najd)  Fatawas unter islamischem Deckmantel  verteilen.  Diese Fatawas öffneten die Tore für sämtliche Kriege gegen die Muslime, militärisch, wirtschaftlich oder in allgemeinen Hetzkampagnen (Beleidungssereien, Kariakturen, Kopftuchverbot usw.)

Luxus, Prunk, Verschwendungssucht, Brutaltität, Freundschaft mit Menschenschlächtern und Kriegsverbrechern bezeichnen nur die offensichtlichen Schandtaten dieser für “moderat”, “fortschrittlich” und “nicht ganz so islamistischen” befundenen Phiraun (Pharaonen) .

Mittlerweile bröckelt jedoch, al-hamdulillah, diese Fassade der gewaltätigen Khawaritsch, welche sich mit Dawa Aktionen und Imam-Schnellkursen (Imam in 21 Tagen)

Imam in 21 Tagen

sowie unzähliger Charajee Webseiten, kostenlosen Wahabi-Salafi-Büchern und nicht zuletzt Star-Wanderpredigern gegen den sicheren Untergang ihrer Sektenbewegung zur Wehr setzen.

Superstar Prediger sind hier in Deutschland bspw. Pierre Vogel alias Abu Hamza, Abu Jamal, Abu l Hussain, Abu Jibril. Das letzte Aufgebot hat begonnen die Irreleitung (Dalala) der Khawarij zu verbreiten. Ihr Vorbild ist die christianistische Missionierung wie es z.B. in den USA populär ist durch die Baptisten. Ein Zugpferd ist zweifellos der amerikanische Khawaarij-Prediger Yusuf Estes, der - ehemalige ? – Baptistenpriester.
Zuvor sind schon die Euro-Khawarij kläglich gescheitert mit deutschsprachigen Bruderschaftszentren (IGD, MJ) usw.  oder die Weichspül-Euromuslime mit Bassam Tibi etc. – Ihre Bruderschaft des Teufels Moscheen (Ikhwan Muslimun) und ihre Islamologie-Institute sind auch gerade am Sinken. Auch ihre den chrislichen Jugendbewegungen nachgeahmten Jugend-Dawa-Bewegungen wie die  muslimische Jugend (MJ), auch als Heiratsmarkt bekannt, sind dem sicheren Untergang geweiht.

Es scheint dass alle Sekten-Ableger der Khawarij nun ihren faulen Zauber aufgebraucht haben und die Muslime inshallah wieder bereit sind zur Normalität zurückzukehren.

Von Abdul-Wahab über Bin Baaz, Räuber Familie Saud, Pseudo-Sheikh Albani über Sayid Quttub, Abul Ala Maududi bishin zu Amr Khaled, Bassam Tibi und Qaradawi waren alle Verwirrungen und Intrigen da. Es wird Zeit dass der Islam zurückkehrt.

Möge Allah (a.w.j) diesem künstlichen Gebilde eines sterilen Labor-Islam ohne Herz und wahrhafte Imame ein Ende setzen und die Muslime rechtleiten. AMEEEN !

Can a book choose you? Yes, I mean printed and bound pages; those things we read. Books. Can they choose you?

“You do not choose the book. It chooses you”

That’s what Tingo said to Amr. Who the hell is Tingo? Is he insane?

Good question. I don’t know, but I think he’s someone I’d like to meet. One of the characters in a book called “Velo”.

The book that chose me.

I was in two minds when I saw it – it was the second time. It didn’t appeal to me. I thought it was written by the Islamic preacher Amr Khaled and I just knew I would imagine a screeching voice in my head if I even attempted to read one line. Thanks but no thanks.

“Go on … just have a look” it said

It wasn’t *that* Amr Khaled; it was another and Velo is a book about the pursuit of an Ancient Egyptian myth. Hmm … interesting. Why not?

I didn’t sleep until I got to part two of the book and sleep came by force. I was hooked, spellbound, entertained, and elevated. AWAKE! My gosh, who *is* this guy? So much talent. He speaks from the heart. Candid; without affectation or airs.  He’s been to hell; he met the devil and he returned to tell the tale. He’s not proud, but he’s not ashamed either. It happened. It’s done. He has to keep on living.

Every jot of frustration, fear, hope and despair leapt off the page and into my heart. I was on the journey with him and I went willingly. I couldn’t leave. I needed to know where he was going and what he would find. His life is so different to mine yet so familiar and with each page I turned I saw myself on my own quest, the same quest, a different road, but the same end. Every time he felt like giving up and going back, I sighed. I knew how he felt. Every time he felt like it was a waste of time and wished he’d never started this, I silently willed him on. I feel the same most days.

In Velo Amr speaks about coincidences. I saw and felt them from the first page to the last. I added them to all the other coincidences which have been happening in my life lately including one of them which prompted me to buy this book. I thought about my blog and the “offstage” discussions which have resulted from it so far.

“Coincidences are important. They’re a sign of being on the right path; whichever one we have chosen”

I’m on the path but I’m stuck in traffic. I can almost see the destination, but the view is a little misty. I know I’ll get there. It will just take time and I need to stay on track. No more detours. No more diversions.

Velo. The book that chose me. The book that gave me hope.

I know this book review is kind of obscure, but I don’t want to give too many details about it. It’s a book that you have to read for yourself or you may not experience the same joy and surprise that I did. You have to read it. It’s a must.

30.IGD-Jahreskonferenz und Id-Festival am 4.10 und 5.10. 2008

Das 30.Jahrestreffen der Islamischen Gemeinschaft in Deutschland unter dem Motto

„Teilhaben-Teil sein“ wird in Berlin und Leverkusen in mehrfacher Hinsicht gefeiert.

50.Jubiläum der Islamischen Gemeinschaft in Deutschland

Die islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland wurde 1958 gegründet. Mittlerweile koordiniert die IGD mit mehr als 100 Moscheen und Gemeinden und arbeitet daran, ein akzeptierter und bereichernder Bestandteil der Gesellschaft zu sein. Der Islam soll als Gemeinschaft der Mitte verstanden werden. Extremismus und Übertreibungen jeglicher Art werden abgelehnt.

Das islamische Ideal des Menschen liegt in Ebenmaß und Gleichgewicht, denn nur so können alle Menschen unabhängig ihrer Herkunft friedlich zusammen leben. Was für die Christen Nächstenliebe ist, ist für die Muslime Barmherzigkeit.

Id-Festival

Es wird ein Id-Festival mit bekannten Referenten und Künstlern wie Prof. Tariq Ramadan, Prof. Issam Al-Attar, Dr.Murad Hoffmann, Dr. Muhammad Al-Arifi und dem bekannten Jugendimam Amr Khaled zelebriert. Für Unterhaltung sorgen Musa Mustafa, Abdelfattah Uenat, die Itissam-Gruppe und Ammar 114.

Das abwechslungsreiche Programm soll unterhalten und gleichzeitig Impulse setzen, die Gesellschaft positiv mit zu gestalten.

Die Feierlichkeiten finden am Samstag, den 4.10.2008 in Berlin im Tempodrom, Möckernstr. 10 statt.

Am Sonntag, den 5.10.2008 wird im Sportpark Leverkusen, Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle, Bismarckstr. 125 gefeiert.

Karten im Vorverkauf gibt es bei den Kooperationspartner der IGD in den Gemeinden und Zentren während des ganzen Monats Ramadan zu kaufen:

Vorverkauf: Erwachsene 8.-€ und Kinder bis 10 Jahre 4.-€.

Abendkasse: Erwachsene 12.-€ und Kinder bis 10 Jahre 6.-€

Ein separates Kinderprogramm ist vorbereitet.

Mit Simultanübersetzung arabisch-deutsch und deutsch-arabisch.

Einlass ist jeweils um 13.00 Uhr.

Bei Bedarf werden Busse für den Transport von den Zentren organisiert.

Wir wünschen allen Muslimen einen gesegneten Ramadan.

Referenten der 30.IGD-JK

Die Fernsehprediger Amr Khaled und Dr. Muhammad Al-Arifi sind inshA beim 50jährigen Jubiläum der IGD dabei

Amr Khaled

(geb.5.9.1967) ist ein aus Ägypten stammender islamischer Fernsehprediger. Seine erste TV-Show Kalam min al-Qalb (Worte aus dem Herzen) wurde 2001 auf Iqra ausgestrahlt und erregte unter Muslimen Aufsehen mit seinem westlich orientierten Auftreten und Diskurs. Er ist Begründer des 2005 gegründeten deutschlandweiten Netzwerkes Lifemakers, das Muslime bei Behördengängen, finanziellen Nöten oder Business-Plänen, Fragen für die Errichtung islamischer Kindergärten, berät.

Seine Programme werden durch Dar Al-Tarjama in 9 Sprachen übersetzt. In deutscher Sprache gibt u.a.`Die Liebe zum Paradies` und ´Allahs Liebe zu den Menschen`. Muhammad(s) “…mit den Gläubigen gütig, barmherzig” gibt es auch als Hör-CD.

Sein diesjähirges Ramadan-Programm „Geschichten aus dem Koran“ wird von den Sendern Ar-Risala, Mehwar und Abu-Dabi gesendet und fasziniert ein Millionen-Publikum.

Dr. Muhammad Al-Arifi

Er ist ein islamischer Fernsehprediger aus Saudi-Arabien, der im Monat Ramadan täglich Millionen Muslime mit seinen Worten am Bildschirm fesselt.

Seine Serie „Die Reisenden“(Musafirun) wird täglich um 17.00Uhr auf LBC gesendet.

Seine Serie „Vorbilder und Besonderheiten“ (Dala´il wa Schama´il) wird täglich um 12.00 Uhr auf Iqraa ausgestrahlt. Darin befasst er sich mit den Prophetengeschichten und ihre Wunder. Seine Serie „Ich faste“ (Inni sa´im) läuft täglich um 15.30 Uhr auf Qatar.

Dr. Wilfried Murad Hofmann

(geb.6.7.1931) ist ein deutscher Jurist und ehemaliger Diplomat. Der zum Islam konvertierte Hofmann ist Autor von Sachbüchern zum Thema Islam und Bearbeiter einer Koranübersetzung.

Zu Themen des Islam schrieb Hofmann mehrere Bücher. Die meisten davon liegen auch auf Arabisch und Englisch vor; einige auf Albanisch, Arabisch, Bosnisch, Englisch, Französisch, Malayalam, Türkisch und Ungarisch. Zur ersten Auflage seines 1992 erschienenen Buches “Der Islam als Alternative” schrieb Annemarie-Schimmel das Vorwort. 1998 veröffentlichte er eine Neubearbeitung der Koranübersetzung von Max Henning. Im Jahre 2000 Der Islam im 3. Jahrtausend.

Prof. Tariq Ramadan

(*26.8.1962 in Genf) ist ein Schweißer Islamwissenschaftler und Publizist ägyptischer Herkunft. Er ist das jüngste von sechs Kindern des Said Ramadan. Er gilt als ein Vordenker eines europäischen Islam. Ramadan gilt als einflussreiches Vorbild für junge Muslime in der Diaspora, nicht zuletzt wegen der von ihm propagierten Partizipation der Muslime an der westlichenGesellschaft.

Er promovierte an der Universität Genf mit einer Arbeit über seinen Großvater Hasan Al-Bana. Als Experte gehörte er mehreren Kommissionen des Europaparlamentes an und ist Mitglied der „Gruppe der Weisen für den Dialog der Völker und Kulturen“ bei der Europäischen Kommission unter Vorsitz von Romano Prodi.

Tariq Ramadan ist seit 1986 verheiratet und hat vier Kinder.

Ein Muslim, der seinen Aufenthalt oder gar die Staatsbürgerschaft in einem europäischen Land habe, müsse sich in den dortigen Gesellschaftsvertrag fügen. Im Gegenzug müssten die europäischen Gesetzgeber im Rahmen der garantierten Religionsfreiheit den Muslimen die Möglichkeit geben, beispielsweise repräsentative Moscheen bauen zu können. Die Muslime müssten sich im vollen Umfang als Mitbürger betrachten, die am gesellschaftlichen Leben in allen seinen verschiedenen Aspekten teilhaben, ohne ihre eigenen – islamischen – Werte dabei aufzugeben.

Tariq Ramadan tritt für eine neue europäisch-muslimische Identität ein. In seinem Buch ´Muslim sein im Westen´ fordert er „die Partizipation am gesellschaftlichen Leben, kulturelle Projekte im Einklang mit der europäischen Kultur und der muslimischen Ethik.“

Er verteidigte während der Kopftuch-Debatte die Kleidung der Muslimin als „Zeichen ihrer Identität“ und als „islamische Pflicht“, die jedoch kein „Zwang“ werden dürfe. Ramadan hat mehrfach öffentlich alle Terroranschläge verurteilt.

Prof. Issam Al-Bashir

ist ein sudanesischer Islamwissenschaftler und Politiker. Er promovierte im Fach Hadith-Wissenschaften und war Minister für die Förderung von Stiftungen(Awqaf).

Er ist zurzeit Generalsekretär des Zentralinstituts für Wassatiya in Kuweit.

Wassatiya heißt ein Islam der Mitte, weit weg von Extremismus und Fanatismus.

Der Islam im Sinne der Wassatiya fordert die Menschen auf, sich gegenseitig kennen zulernen. Er ruft zur Sicherung des Weltfriedens und einer gemeinsamen Koexistenz zu Dialog, Kommunikation und Kooperation zwischen den Völkern und Nationen auf.

Der Islam achtet die Menschenrechte und fordert zur Gleichheit der Menschen auf. Er lehnt jede Form des Rassismus ab. Das Recht auf Freiheit ist ein hohes Gut. Darüber hinaus lehnt der Islam Glaubenszwang ab. Die freie Wahl des Glaubens ist garantiert. Der Islam bietet ein ausgewogenes Konzept von Freiheit geleitet durch ethische Werte und legalen Grenzen wie z.B. keine Gewalt gegen sich oder andere auszuüben.

The past month, I have heard mixed viewpoints regarding reading the Quran in english. Many scholars have agreed that the Quran is in Arabic and no translation in any language will come close to it. The best prize would be to learn Arabic. Most of us are past our learning sell by date, so although the reward reading it in English or the language of your mother tongue may not be the same, the benefit one can get from reading it in English is better then not understanding it at all. Read it preferably in the language you understand, so you can try and understand what Allah wants from you as his ambassador on earth. As one sister rightly pointed out, when we are going to be questioned on the day of Qiyamah, what will our answer be? “We didn’t understand Arabic, so that is why we couldn’t be your Khalifah(Ambassador).” My advice is that before you embark on this journey to understand the Quran, seek advise from a learned scholar in your area on how to approach understanding it. There are many tafseers you can read that will make you understand the Quran better. If you have any questions, have a dialogue with your local scholar so that you are clear what Allah wants from you. We must understand that the Quran is the Word of Allah. I think the fear that some scholars rightly have is that many misinterpret the Quran and this can be dangerous for the faith.

Some facts about the Quran
Revelation: It was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him) over a period of 23 years.
No. of Chapters (Surah) 114
Revealed in Makkah 86
Revealed in Madinah 28
Total number of verses 6239
Longest chapter (Surah) Chapter 2 (Suratul Baqarah): 286 verses
Shortest chapter Chapter 108 (Suratul Kauthar) 3 verses
Number of Juz – 30

Tools to memorise the names of Surahs of the Quran
Sister Najma sent me some wonderful tools in assisting us to memorise the names of the Surahs of the Quran. To create the love of the Quran, and instil it our children at a young age, it would help give them some tools that they can relate directly to the Quran. The tools are:
Surah name Memorising tool
Surah Index charts
Juz Recogniser for when you are listening to the Quran and want to recognise in which para the surah is in

Other Quran links

This program was filmed in Ramadan 2006, Amr Khaled goes into great detail about the names of Allah. Very inspirational and emotional.

Want to impress your easily impressionable friends?

Sartre and Derrida aren’t doing it for you any more?

Chomsky passé? Gore embarrassingly common?

Looking for some unreadable books to lay strategically on your coffee table or conspicuously pretend to read at Starbucks or the organic coffee-bean cooperative?

Prospect, a British “centre-left” magazine has come up with a list of the Top 100 Public Intellectuals

1. Fethullah Gülen: The main “intellectual” and “spiritual” inspiration for Turkey’s Islamic reconquista movement. He wants to Islamize the government. He uses science for ‘religious purposes.’ He’s at the center of a gigantic organization, whose goal it is to transform Muslim societies, with Turkey as the center and leader of the reformed Caliphate. Has written that atheists and terrorists are equally despicable. Told supporters who work for the government, that they should persevere in order to establish an Islamic state. Advocates Sharia rule . On 18 June 1999, a Turkish network aired a video of Gülen in which he told his supporters to wait for the right moment “to take over Turkey.” He wants to Islamize Turkish nationalism. Gülen argues that “Turkish” really means “Islamic”, and that only a Muslim Turk is a Turk: “the identity of Turks is Islam, a Turk who does not accept Islam is not a real Turk.”
   
2. Muhammad Yunus: Bangladeshi Muslim banker who advocates sex discrimination in the awarding of loans. Formed “Global Elders”, a group of “world leaders” (Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson; funded by Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel, other luminaries, and The UN (i.e. Western Tax-Payers)) who will contribute their wisdom and integrity to saving the world.
3. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi: Egyptian Muslim. One of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Co-founder of Islam Online, a site full of ahistorical nonsense like, “the Jews suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Byzantines in AD 70.” Host of the Al Jazeera TV show, Ash-Shariah wal-Hayat (“Shariah and Life”). Author of Islam: The Future Civilization.
4. Orhan Pamuk: Turkish Muslim. Rich socialist anti-American. Novelist and essayist.
   
5. Aitzaz Ahsan: Pakistani Muslim politician and lawyer. Rich socialist. As Pakistani Federal Minister for Law, appointed 20 of his party workers as judges, even though they had never appeared in court.
6. Amr Khaled: Egyptian Muslim. Tele-Islamist. Muslim Brotherhood. Author of The Honor and Might of Muslims.
7. Abdolkarim Soroush: Iranian Muslim. Supporter of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Former Islamic Republic bureaucrat. Author of The Theoretical Contraction and Expansion of Shari’a.
   
8. Tariq Ramadan Egyptian-Swiss Muslim. His father was deported from Egypt for terror activities. His grandfather founded the Muslim Brotherhood. Fired from Swiss school for advocating Sharia and lapidation [stoning criminals to death]. Denied entry to the U.S. for financial support of Hamas. Believes that Muslims in Europe have to establish a new “European Islam”, which would include a “moratorium” in Europe on Muslim habits such as stoning adulterers to death. Author of In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad.
9. Mahmood Mamdani: Ugandan Muslim. Advocate for the Sudanese Janjaweed. Author of Good Muslim Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, and the Roots of Terror.
   
10. Shirin Ebadi: Iranian Muslim. Supporter of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Former Islamic Republic bureaucrat. Lawyer.
11. Noam Chomsky
12. Al Gore
13. Bernard Lewis
14. Umberto Eco
15. Ayaan Hirsi Ali
16. Amartya Sen
17. Fareed Zakaria
18. Garry Kasparov
19. Richard Dawkins
20. Mario Vargas Llosa
21. Lee Smolin
22. Jürgen Habermas
23. Salman Rushdie
24. Sari Nusseibeh
25. Slavoj Zizek
26. Vaclav Havel
27. Christopher Hitchens
28. Samuel Huntington
29. Peter Singer
30. Paul Krugman
31. Jared Diamond
32. Pope Benedict XVI
33. Fan Gang
34. Michael Ignatieff
35. Fernando Henrique Cardoso
36. Lilia Shevtsova
37. Charles Taylor
38. Martin Wolf
39. EO Wilson
40. Thomas Friedman
41. Bjørn Lomborg
42. Daniel Dennett
43. Francis Fukuyama
44. Ramachandra Guha
45. Tony Judt
46. Steven Levitt
47. Nouriel Roubini
48. Jeffrey Sachs
49. Wang Hui
50. VS Ramachandran
51. Drew Gilpin Faust
52. Lawrence Lessig
53. JM Coetzee
54. Fernando Savater
55. Wole Soyinka
56. Yan Xuetong
57. Steven Pinker
58. Alma Guillermoprieto
59. Sunita Narain
60. Anies Baswedan
61. Michael Walzer
62. Niall Ferguson
63. George Ayittey
64. Ashis Nandy
65. David Petraeus
66. Olivier Roy
67. Lawrence Summers
68. Martha Nussbaum
69. Robert Kagan
70. James Lovelock
71. J Craig Venter
72. Amos Oz
73. Samantha Power
74. Lee Kuan Yew
75. Hu Shuli
76. Kwame Anthony Appiah
77. Malcolm Gladwell
78. Alexander De Waal
79. Gianni Riotta
80. Daniel Barenboim
81. Thérèse Delpech
82. William Easterly
83. Minxin Pei
84. Richard Posner
85. Ivan Krastev
86. Enrique Krauze
87. Anne Applebaum
88. Rem Koolhaas
89. Jacques Attali
90. Paul Collier
91. Esther Duflo
92. Michael Spence
93. Robert Putnam
94. Harold Varmus
95. Howard Gardner
96. Daniel Kahneman
97. Yegor Gaidar
98. Neil Gershenfeld
99. Alain Finkielkraut
100. Ian Buruma

I see more and more European news outlets and blogs such as this one talking about Islamophobia*.  If I was not a Muslim, I guess I would be concerned too, being constantly bombarded by heavily distorted and false propaganda, but really if you understand Islam and how an Islamic state treats and protects dhimmis with high respect and honor, there’s nothing to be afraid of.  And I’ll go even further to say that it’s a much better system than how democracy treats its minorities.

          Will Muslims be the majority in Europe in 20 years?  Maybe.

          Could Christianity die out in a century?  Allah knows.

          Is Europe afraid?  Definitely.

          Is there a need to be afraid.  I don’t think so.

This blogger seems to think so with her ’see saw’ theory that when Europe is up, Islam is down and vice versa.  She has a point. 

The tides are turning and no one can deny that.  Br. Amr Khaled has stated it publicly as well as Shaykh Yusuf Qaradawi here:

Someone might view this video and be afraid but there’s nothing to be afraid of.  The truth of God stands clear and everyone is given a choice to accept or decline.

*Note:  Just had to throw this definition in here to show our “Greekness”  

A phobia (from Greek: φόβος, phobos, “fear”), is an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or persons.

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Who are the hundred most influential intellectuals in the world? After nearly half a million votes, the British monthly, Prospect, and the American magazine Foreign Policy, publish their new list.

Alhamdulillah! Muslims make up the top ten spots.

Number one is the Turkish writer and the Sufi thinker Fethullah Gülen. who is the prizewinner. He is followed by nine other thinkers of the Muslim world: Nobel Peace Prize winners Muhammad Yunus (second) and Shirin Ebadi (tenth), Nobel Prize winner for literature Orhan Pamuk (fourth), as well as Pakistani Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan (fifth), Egyptian televangelist Amr Khaled (sixth), Iranian reformer and Rumi scholar Abdolkarim Soroush (seventh), Tariq Ramadan (eighth), Islamist preacher Youssef al-Qaradawi (third), and Columbia University Professor Mahmood Mamdani (ninth).

Read the rest for yourselves and Google their biographies and writings for your children. Inshallah, this is the beginning of another Muslim Age of Enlightenment.

The hundred most influential intellectuals can be found HERE.

- Edited from the Sufi News and Sufism World Report blog of Thursday, June 26, 2008.

Ya Haqq!

A revista inglesa Prospect, fundada em 1995, tem feito jus ao seu slogan: “a conversa inteligente da Grã-Bretanha”.  Sempre apresenta uma faceta diferente da visão mundial e gosto de seguir suas reportagens.  Junto com a revista Foreign Policy, a Prospect  faz de tempos em tempos uma enquête para descobrir quem seus leitores consideram ser os 100 maiores pensadores da atualidade.  A última tomada de pulso foi em 2005 quando Noam Chomsky, professor de Linguística  no MIT, foi o primeiro colocado.  Seguido de Umberto Eco, escritor, crítico e professor de semiótica em segundo lugar e por Richard Dawkins, eminente zoólogo, professor da Universidade de Oxford.  Seguiram-se Vaclav Havel, escritor e dramaturgo, Christopher Hitchens,  jornalista e crítico literário, Paul Krugman, economista e jornalista,  Jürgen Habermas, filósofo e sociólogo,  Amartya Sen, economista laureado com o Nobel, Jared Diamond,  biólogo evolucionário, fisiologista, biogeógrafo e Salman Rushdie, escritor.  Estes foram os dez primeiros colocados há três anos. 

Quando a revista fez a mesma enquête este ano, ficou surpresa ao receber mais de meio milhão de votos, e mais ainda com o resultado da pesquisa.  A lista publicada agora, no mês de julho, mostra que os nomes dos 10 mais votados são todos de intelectuais muçulmanos.   Os organizadores logo procuraram saber se havia um hacker atrás da votação, e que tipo de campanhas haviam sido montadas e para que nomes.   E é claro que o vencedor deste ano, Fethullah Güllen, escritor, pensador e filósofo Suni, teve uma grande campanha por votos dentro da Turquia, a partir de maio quando Zaman o jornal de maior circulação no país e associado ao movimento de Güllen, publicou que havia esta competição para pensadores influentes.   Como explica Tom Nuttal em uns dos artigos deste mês na revista, antes de publicarem a lista, Prospect e Foreign Policy se certificaram da validade dos votos e das campanhas existentes.

Fethullah Güllen

Veja: 

http://peregrinacultural.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/fethullah-gulen-%E2%80%93-quem-e-o-intelectual-n%C2%B0-1-do-mundo/

http://peregrinacultural.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/muhammad-yunus-quem-e-segundo-mais-votado-intelectual/

Houve campanhas a favor de Mario Vargas Llosa, de Al Gore, Gary Gasparov, para dar alguns nomes, mas nenhuma delas vingou.  Provavelmente porque nenhuma destas campanhas teve a disciplina entre seus seguidores de manter o interesse pela votação vivo e a disciplina de arrecadar votos, que os seguidores de Güllen tiveram.  Cada eleitor poderia sugerir 5 nomes.  Mesmo assim, como é amplamente explicado em considerações sobre a lista, nenhuma campanha, poderia justificar o posicionamento de 10 muçulmanos entre os maiores e mais influentes pensadores do momento. 

O que estamos testemunhando, como diz Tom Nuttal, é a emergência de um novo tipo de intelectual, aquele que tem uma grande corrente de amigos e seguidores, que podem ser facilmente mobilizados.  Entre os nomes que apareceram entre os 10 mais votados estão também Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Amr Khaled .  Yusuf al-Qaradawi que já tinha aparecido na lista em 2005, subindo da posição 56 para a 3ª colocação e  Amr Khaled religioso muçulmano e produtor de programas televisos, que entrou na lista este ano, obtendo a 6ª posição.  Ambos seguidores próximos de Güllen com campanhas angariando votos, bem organizadas no Facebook.  Muhammad Yunus, economista e banqueiro em Bangladesh e Shirin Ebadi, advogada e ativista sobre direitos humanos no Iran, foram ambos agraciados com o Nobel da Paz e também tiveram bastante sucesso.

Os outros nomes entre os 10 mais votados em 2008 são: o escritor Orhan Pamuk;  Aitzaz Ahsan, advogado, membro da Suprema Corte do Paquistão e ativista em direitos humanos;  Abdolkarim Soroush o filósofo,  Rumi estudioso; Tariq Ramadan professor universitário e pensador muçulmano e Mahmood Mamdani, antropólogo e sociólogo,

A lista completa dos 100 mais votados se encontra aqui.  Em parênteses a colocação de cada um na enquête de 2005.  Asterisco significa que esta é a primeira vez que esta pessoa está sendo citada. 

1 Fethullah Gülen

11 Noam Chomsky (1)

12 Al Gore (*)

13 Bernard Lewis (34)

14 Umberto Eco (2)

15 Ayaan Hirsi Ali

16 Amartya Sen (8 )

17 Fareed Zakaria (35)

18 Garry Kasparov (*)

19 Richard Dawkins (3)

20 Mario Vargas Llosa (29)

21 Lee Smolin (*)

22 Jürgen Habermas (7)

23 Salman Rushdie (10)

24 Sari Nusseibeh (65)

25 Slavoj Zizek (23)

26 Vaclav Havel (4)

27 Christopher Hitchens (5)

28 Samuel Huntington (28 )

29 Peter Singer (33)

30 Paul Krugman (6)

31 Jared Diamond (9)

32 Pope Benedict XVI (17)

33 Fan Gang (82)

34 Michael Ignatieff (37)

35 Fernando Henrique Cardoso (43)

36 Lilia Shevtsova (*)

37 Charles Taylor (*)

38 Martin Wolf (*)

39 EO Wilson (31)

40 Thomas Friedman (16)

41 Bjørn Lomborg (14)

42 Daniel Dennett (24)

43 Francis Fukuyama (21)

44 Ramachandra Guha (*)

45 Tony Judt (*)

46 Steven Levitt (*)

47 Nouriel Roubini (*)

48 Jeffrey Sachs (27)

49 Wang Hui (*)

50 VS Ramachandran (*)

51 Drew Gilpin Faust (*)

52 Lawrence Lessig (40)

53 JM Coetzee (44)

54 Fernando Savater (*)

55 Wole Soyinka (66)

56 Yan Xuetong (*)

57 Steven Pinker (26)

58 Alma Guillermoprieto (*)

59 Sunita Narain (80)

60 Anies Baswedan (*)

61 Michael Walzer (68 )

62 Niall Ferguson (45)

63 George Ayittey (*)

64 Ashis Nandy (*)

65 David Petraeus (*)

66 Olivier Roy (*)

67 Lawrence Summers (60)

68 Martha Nussbaum (53)

69 Robert Kagan (62)

70 James Lovelock (71)

71 J Craig Venter (74)

72 Amos Oz (59)

73 Samantha Power (*)

74 Lee Kuan Yew (*)

75 Hu Shuli (*)

76 Kwame Anthony Appiah (*)

77 Malcolm Gladwell (*)

78 Alexander De Waal (*)

79 Gianni Riotta (*)

80 Daniel Barenboim (*)

81 Thérèse Delpech (*)

82 William Easterly (*)

83 Minxin Pei (*)

84 Richard Posner (32)

85 Ivan Krastev (*)

86 Enrique Krauze (85)

87 Anne Applebaum (*)

88 Rem Koolhaas (51)

89 Jacques Attali (*)

90 Paul Collier (*)

91 Esther Duflo (*)

92 Michael Spence (*)

93 Robert Putnam (77)

94 Harold Varmus (94)

95 Howard Gardner (70)

96 Daniel Kahneman (64)

97 Yegor Gaidar (*)

98 Neil Gershenfeld (87)

99 Alain Finkielkraut (81)

100 Ian Buruma (*)