Reconciliation of Beliefs and Institutional Support

In the past, I was really impressed by the tough stances taken by Amnesty International. To me, this organization is very true to their mission and appears to fight in accordance with it (quick two examples – Guantanamo Bay and Israeli War Crimes). However, after being a member I canceled my membership due to Amnesty International’s stance with regards to homosexuality (found here).

The fact that practicing homosexuality is wrong according to Islam is very clear and obvious (please click here and here for elaboration). Muslims should not support the practice of homosexuality (especially after learning that God had destroyed a whole town because of this sin).

However, due to the fact that Amnesty International actually does a lot of good work, I became embroiled in an internal conflict with regards to whether I should cancel my membership or whether I should support the organization even though there is this blemish with regards to the beliefs that the organization espouses. Afterall, we don’t break off ties with people who are imperfect, is it right to break off ties with organizations that are imperfect? I still do not have an answer to this question but at the same time I felt that the least I can do is try to voice my concern and try to change the organization. I wrote to Amnesty International expressing my beliefs/concerns and I wanted to share the letter with you:

“Hello, I generally like your organization and many of the beliefs and causes that Amnesty International espouses. Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to support an organization that believes in legalizing gay/lesbian activity and behavior. I believe gay/lesbian activity is wrong from a moral and ethical perspective.

However, I do agree with Amnesty International with regards to the following:
- women should not be raped to “cure” their lesbianism
- homosexuals should not be beaten by police
- homosexuals should not be attacked or killed on the street
- homosexuals should not be subjugated to verbal abuse
- homosexuals should not be bullied at school
- homosexuals should not be denied health services that do not promote homosexuality
- homosexuals should not be raped or tortured in detention
- homosexuals should not be driven to suicide

I would like to request from Amnesty International that they not support the expression or practice of homosexuality…  “

The letter continues but the point I am trying to deliver here is that completely cutting ties with an organization is not necessarily the best response. One should at least try and change the organization first. Can you imagine if we treated human beings in this manner where we cut off ties with people who we feel had made a mistake? Let’s not forget Prophet Noah who preached the message of Islam for over 900 years before he chose to part paths with his people.

May Allah allow the practices of the Muslims and the organizations that they support to be consistent with his deen. Ameen.

The Issue of Cell Phones in our Masajid

The issue of cell phones is so important that although I was initially going to put it in the “General Advice” section of my Hajj article, I decided to devote an entire article.

Once upon a time, people lived without cell phones. People were able to come for salat, focus to the best of their abilities to try to attain khushoo in salat and complete their salat with very little external disturbances. With the advent of cellular phones, the everso cunning and clever shaytaan figured out a way to distract people not only by leveraging the strength of their nafs, but now is able use the Muslims themselves to distract each other!

My brothers and sisters in Islam, the last thing we want is to stand before Allah subhana wa tala on the Day of Judgement and have to be held accountable for distracting hundreds of his righteous ebad during their salat (especially during Hajj in the haram!). The haram in Mecca and the haram in Medina are two of the most sacred and beloved places to Allah on this earth. Righteous people (including shayook, maybe some awliya, etc) come to these places to worship Allah – do we want to be held accountable for disturbing the connection between Allah and his righteous servants?

There is of course a practical solution to this issue – we need to begin developing the habit of turning our cell phones off in the masjid. And by off I mean powered off – do not put it on vibrate, do not put it on silent, but turn it off. I strongly believe that we can live without our cell phones for the short length of time that we spend in salat (if not for our whole lives) as this is how people used to live before cell phones existed. Today, there are cell phones that have their alarms go off even when the cell phone is silent or when the phone is off! This is even considered “a feature” of the cell phone (as opposed to a design defect or poor design).

I would like to first briefly define the different modes (also called “profiles”) that are available on cell phones.

Loud - The phone ringer is on and (in all likelihood) it is obnoxiously loud. We should try not using this mode at all
Normal - The ringer is on in what is considered to be normal volume
Vibrate - The ringer is off, the cellphone vibrates to provide notification of calls, text messages, alarms, etc
Lamp - The ringer is off and the cell phone does not vibrate. Instead, the cell phone’s lights start to go off to give notification of calls, text messages, alarms, etc. If the phone is in your pocket, the lights tend to not be noticed

Keeping in mind these modes, I am of the belief that if you are not going to turn off your phone or leave it in the car – only vibrate and lamp mode is acceptable in the masjid. However, if you are in salat, ONLY lamp mode should be used. The reasoning for this is, if you intentionally leave your phone on vibrate during salat, you are making the conscious decision to be notified during salat of when you receive a call. In other words, you consciously want to be disturbed and distracted in salat. Although vibrate mode may not distract others (and actually, even this is not true in many cases since people in your proximity can here that something is shaking in your pockets) a cell phone that is vibrating does at the minimum distract you. The only mode that will probably not distract you is Lamp mode.

Again, my proposal for a practical solution to this issue is this – lets make a habit of turning our cell phones off. Let’s not even use lamp mode because its too much trouble and in our salat shaytaan may start whispering to us “did you put your cell phone on lamp mode or was it vibrate?”, or “are you sure the alarm doesn’t go off in lamp mode?” or “hmmm, maybe someone called you and you have a missed call.” Do not give shaytaan this opening and develop the habit to just turn it off. And when I say develop the habit, I mean exactly that. An example of a habit is signaling when driving. After learning to drive a car, it eventually becomes natural to signal right or left when turning. You don’t even think about it and it doesn’t matter where you are – when you turn, you find your self signaling left or right automatically. Similarly, no matter which masjid we are in, no matter which country we are in, no matter what season we are in, let us turn our cell phones off when entering the house of Allah.

JazakAllah khair and may Allah give us the full reward of our salat and keep us away from distracting other Muslims in their salat. Ameen.

Hajj Reflection and Advice

Alhamdulillah I had the opportunity to be a guest of Allah this year along with my mother and wife. I made pilgrimage to the House of Allah to perform Hajj. It was amongst one of the best experiences of my life to be exorcised out of the rat race of dhunya and to begin regularly performing ibadah at two of the most sacred places on earth – the House of Allah in Mecca and the Masjid of the Prophet in Medina.

To summarize the experience in one sentence – There is an uncanny satisfaction and satiation that one experiences in being able to fulfill and embody the ultimate purpose for ones creation.

Where better a place to fulfill that purpose than the House of Allah and the Masjid of His beloved messenger, Prophet Muhammad? Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah.

Having returned from experiencing Hajj I have to say and emphasize that every Muslim obligated to do so should make a firm niyah to go and begin the planning. I also recommend proper preparation prior to going. Listen to lectures and seminars by knowledgeable shayookh. Two such shayookh that have prepared lectures and given seminars are Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui (excellent CD set can be found here) and Shaykh Ibrahim Dremali (I had the privilege to perform Hajj with Shaykh Ibrahim Dremali and was dumbfounded with the vast knowledge he was providing us directly from the Quran and sunnah but have not researched whether CDs/videos from the Shaykh are available. A quick Google search did reveal a video documentary which can be found here).

Other advice I can provide is as follows

To Take and Not To Take:

YES:
- Showl Kashmiri as it can get cold during nights in Medina and in Muzdullifah
- Easily portable sleeping bag in order to sleep in the open in Muzdullifah
- Nail cutter, shaving blades (not for your beard, but for areas like underarms and such)
- Scentless Wet wipes
- Advil/Tylenol, a course of antibiotics (keep in mind, hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the world aggregate in one area. Keep your immune system on guard!)
- Alarm clock. Cell phone alarm clock is adequate and can kill two birds with one stone (this is a figure of speech, please do not kill or hunt animals in Mecca with stones or otherwise regardless of whether you are in ihraam or not)
- Money – bring a safe amount and also bring some small bills in case you need only a few dollars during your travels (on our return to JFK, the airport was charging $3 for a trolley that can carry luggage out of the arrival area.
- Cell phones – I recommend taking a cellphone but I say this with precaution. Please read my follow-up article regarding cell phones. If you don’t already have one, try to get one with a good battery life since you will be traveling a lot and may not be able to charge the phone everywhere you go. A second battery may come in handy. I don’t know which frequency band works in Saudi but you can’t go wrong with a quad-band world phone as it will work in most countries. Having a cell phone on which you can take notes can also be very convenient as you can easily jot down thoughts, notes, tasks, reflections and so on. You are on a journey of a life-time and inshaAllah, Allah will inspire you.
- Small pocket notebook and pen – again, this is a journey that has changed the lives of many Muslims. Take a small pocket notebook as you may remember something while waiting for salat, or traveling on a bus, or walking to the masjid. If Allah has reminded you of a sin that you committed against someone long time ago, it would be a shame to forget that sin and not ask that person for forgiveness.  A small pocket notebook can also be used to jot down tasks, reflections, and contact numbers.

QUESTIONABLE:
- Some say bring a plastic bag for slippers, however, plastic bags are readily available in Mecca. In fact, even if you buy a 4 rial shwarma you will probably be given a plastic bag.
- Some say bring zip lock bags to put pebbles in prior to stoning of the jamarat, however, I forgot where my zip lock bags were when I needed pebbles and was able to use a plastic bottle of water which is readily available. In fact, you can see many people using some type of plastic bottle as it fits the right size of pebbles, is less prone to breaking and ripping like zip lock bags, and plastic bottles can easily be sealed. My recommendation is to leave the zip lock bags at home and save yourself the trouble and just get a 1 rial plastic bottle of water (plus you can drink the water to empty it out for the use of collecting pebbles).

NO:
- Although cell phones will come in very handy, I recommend against bringing a camera phone. My wife was turned away from Masjid Nabawi because women were checking purses at the entrance of Masjid Nabawi and my wife had a camera phone (keep in mind that this means that you may be turned away for having digital cameras as well). I am not sure of the exact reason why cameras and camera phones are not allowed in Masjid Nabawi for women but it is probably a precaution taken for 2 reasons – they don’t want pictures taken of other women and they don’t want pictures taken of the grave of the Prophet.

GENERAL ADVICE
- In Mecca, it is particularly important to arrive for salat early (at least half an hour early) so that one does not have trouble finding a spot to pray inside the haram
- Medina is generally less crowded but it is still a good practice to go early and find a good spot to pray salat. Also, keep in mind that waiting for salat is a good deed in the sight of Allah (see Q&A article).
- You may encounter beggars who approach you and ask you for money (even in the haram unfortunately). I am not going to advocate or discourage anyone from giving money (as there may be people in dire need, Allahu Alim). Whether you choose to give beggars money or not, keep in mind that there are people who take advantage of the good niyah in which people attend Hajj and use the opportunity to generate easy money by leveraging the generosity of Muslims during this sacred season and place.
- Carrying a bottle of water around during hajj may come in handy if you want to avoid bathroom lines and if you are in transit, you can make wadu on bus and may even need to wash your hands occasionally

The above list is by no means complete . However, it is a start and I will continue augmenting the list, inshaAllah. Please share your Hajj experiences in comments and any recommendations from your experiences. I will try to augment this article with your suggestions and inshaAllah this article will be of benefit to the ummah.

Driving While Muslim

When a student of a pious Shaykh asked how he can improve his concentration during prayer, the shaykh counseled him with a few powerful words, “you are in prayer what you are outside of prayer.” The meaning behind this counsel is very profound. Upon reflection, one can infer that the lesson of this counsel is that we can’t expect to commit sin, not be in dhikr, and commit sinful atrocities and then come to salat expecting to transform into a pious Muslim whose heart readily connects with Allah. The shaykh continued and advised the student to increase his dhikr outside of prayer and in his everyday affairs which would thereby improve his concentration in prayer.

From this lesson, we can conclude that our spiritual life is not (nor is it intended to be) independent from our daily life – the two are intertwined and inseparable. In sight of this verity, this article shares my experience in driving.

Having grown up in NY, I am not accustomed to exemplary cases of good driving habits and manners. However, I had the opportunity to work for a large corporation in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. In my six month stint in the area, I noticed a few differences between life in NY and life in NC.

I admit, I was not by any means a safe driver nor a polite driver – I frequently cut other vehicles closely, refused give others space to cut me, tailgated cars to tell them to get out of “my” lane and always tried to be in the fastest lane at any given time in an attempt to get to the destination as quickly as possible. This is something I feel silly about now considering the time I saved would probably not even be equivalent to a bathroom break, and secondly, being 15 minutes early to work is an accomplishment I regret accomplishing. What I noticed about people in North Carolina though, is that for the most part most people were very polite and passive (aka defensive). Most drivers would try not to block lanes unnecessarily, I rarely exhibited tailgating or rude cutting of other vehicles. People were not only polite and patient on the road, but not surprisingly they were polite and patient at work, in stores, and in other environments. I will not argue that polite drivers are necessarily polite people, however, this shows that going back the earlier point, there is natural consistency inherent in each of us as human beings. Our behavior as drivers on the road inevitably affects our behavior elsewhere.

Practical Steps for Change

The title of this article is “Driving While Muslim” and the intention is to start using driving as an arena where we can practice and implement our deen. Here are some practical steps to implement the ideas discussed above and improve our driving habits which inshaAllah will rub off on our characters.

1. When driving, exercise patience. Try not to change lanes, if you are in the slowest lane, just relax and wait. Its possible that your lane is about to become the fastest lane. If that’s not the case, don’t worry. Changing lanes and trying to figure out which is fastest is just a burden on you while you drive. Try sitting back in your seat, relaxing and going with the flow.
2. Instead of mindlessly listening to music and filling the heart with junk, listen to Qur’an and lectures (excellent source of lecture CDs). Some people listen to music to keep them awake and they may feel that Quran doesn’t give them enough energy. In this case, try listening to an interesting lecture on Islam. There are many CD Sets that discuss contemporary issues in Islam on a wide range of topics. Not only will this help you learn, but its dhikr (remembrance). May Allah reward you for remembering him while you drive.
3. Over the span of a two hour drive, we can calculate how much time going 70mph instead of 80mph saves you. Here is some simple math to tell us how much time you saved in 1 hour: 10 Miles/Hour * 2 Hours = 20 Miles
   How much time is 20 miles worth? Even if you were traveling the slower speed of 70mph, 20 miles takes 17.14 minutes to travel. Is saving 17.14 minutes over the span of a two hour drive really worth it? What is 17.14 minutes worth to you? A phone call? A coffee break? A better question – is it worth breaking the law? A speeding ticket? Endangering the lives of others?
4. Control your emotions when dealing with poor adhab (manners) and show restraint. Islam teaches us that the strongest amongst us aren’t those with great physical strength but those who can control their anger.
5. Our behavior in any particular environment has an impact on our behavior outside of that environment. If you attend public schools, just watch the behavior of students who are on the football team. You will find that members of the football team are not only the most vicious on the football field, but also tend to be the most vicious off the field – readily getting into confrontations and being more prone to exhibiting aggressive behavior (and I assure you its not just because of the steroids). Show good behavior while driving and it will help us show good behavior while not driving, inshaAllah.
6. We need to avoid looking at those ladies on the billboard and the girls crossing the street.

Please leave comments and suggestions, even and especially if you disagree.

Please make dua that Allah forgives our sins, beautifies our character, and grants us Jannat-al-Firdous.

An Open Invitation to Islam

• Turning Muslim in Texas
• Napolean (from Tupac’s Outlawz) talks about his conversion to Islam
• 20,000 Converts to Islam in USA
• The Muslim Education and Converts Center of America (MECCA)
• Scientist From Czech Republic Converts To Islam
• How Abu Bakr Ruben Came to Islam

Organizations for Zakat Donations and Sadaqa Donations

Here is a list of organizations that are trustworthy and that one should feel comfortable contributing to. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list – the list still will be expanded, inshaAllah. Whether donations count as zakat and if the donations are tax deductible is mentioned after being confirmed with the organization (if not explicitly clear on the organizations webpage).

Please feel free to comment and suggest more organizations that should be evaluated and then added to this list.

The Zakat Foundation
About
Zakat Eligible: The Zakat Foundation informed us that a large portion of the programs do qualify for zakat. Some programs qualify as “Sadaqa” or “Sadaqa Jariyya”, which is indicated on the website. If you have a particular program in mind for your zakat, please verify with The Zakat Foundation that you can donate your Zakat to that program.
Tax-deductible: Yes

Life for Relief and Development
About
Zakat Eligible: Confirming with organization
Tax-deductible: Yes

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
About
Zakat Eligible: Confirming with organization
Tax-deductible: Yes

Islamic Relief USA
About
Zakat Eligible: Confirming with organization
Tax-deductible: Yes

UMMA Community Clinic
About
Video Presentation
Zakat Eligible: Response from Organization – “… UMMA’s board is seeking the knowledge of Islamic scholars to answer that question. Until we establish such a policy we ask our generous donors to consult someone before you donate to us…”
Tax-deductible: Yes

Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
About
Zakat Eligible: Confirming with organization
Tax-deductible: Yes

Islamic Circle of North America
About
Zakat Eligible: Confirming with organization
Tax-deductible: Yes

Small Kindness
About
Zakat Eligible: Not Verified
Tax-deductible: UK charity, please consult a tax professional to determine if this charity is tax deductable for US donors.

Please make dua that God forgives our sins through our spending for Him.

Practical Benefits of the Beard

This article is a reflection on the possible wisdom behind the Islamic practice of keeping a beard. It is an attempt at exploring some of the beautiful “side effects” of following one of the commands of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Needless to say, there is great benefit in reflecting on the repercussions of practicing this element of our deen.

THE BEARD
I live in the West where bearded people who appear to be Muslim are sometimes viewed as being extremists, terrorists, fundamentalists, and/or violent. Given these common negative associations, what benefit is there in keeping a beard?

• By having a beard, I started feeling I have to “live up to the beard.” If you live among Muslims, and you begin keeping a beard, you may hear some of the following responses “Oh mashAllah brother you decided to keep a beard!… That beard looks really good on you brother!… “My brother! Welcome to Islam!” Ok, that last one is a little extreme – but you get the picture. By growing a beard, you are complying with one of the commands of the Prophet Muhammad (as elaborately explained by Shaykh Bilal Philips in the video lecture here). Indeed, beginning to grow your beard is a big step and in some cases, an outright declaration to the world that I am a Muslim and not afraid to let it be known. At the same time, if you grow your beard and “declare that you are a Muslim” and are concurrently committing sins, it makes one feel like a hypocrite. On one hand you are outwardly practicing the sunnah, showing people that you are a follower of the Prophet Muhammad, yet on the other hand you are committing sin. This in effect adds more pressure on one NOT to sin.

• Keeping a beard makes your life easier! People exert effort on a daily basis to try and remove their beard, which isn’t an easy thing to do. In fact, if you want to remain clean-shaven you have to shave regularly. Letting your beard grow, is the EASY thing to do: you don’t have to shave every single day, you don’t have to buy shaving cream and razors and shaving lotion and bandages when you cut yourself (so it saves you money and possibly some blood as well).

• Although its possible that non-Muslims may find the beard unattractive (depending on many factors, like how long your beard is as well as other physical qualities), most people of faith find it to be on the contrary; they see it as a something beautiful. Think of it this way; for a brother who has faith and follows his deen, a sister who covers her hair can be one of the most beautiful things to behold (please see Facebook group ” I LO♥ HIJABIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!“, 442 members mashaAllah). For a sister of faith, it is a similar matter – a brother with a beard is a sign of faith and can be very attractive. Of course, one of the key factors to whether it is attractive or not is the faith aspect. Now the question is why is it a good thing that the faithful find the beard attractive? I can think of two reasons:1) Islam teaches us of the benefits of having good companions (please refer to the hadith mentioned in Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 34, Number 314 as recorded here). If people of faith are attracted to you, this is more likely to happen.2) When you are looking for a prospective spouse, if the significant other is repulsed by your beard, then maybe their attachment to the sunnah is not as strong as you may like and that may help you sift through prospective spouses very quickly. Anyone who truly loves the Prophet, will likely love his sunnah and thereby find it easy to love those who practice the sunnah.

• Going back to living in the West, keeping a beard may be a trial for you. It is not easy to grow your beard and go to airports where some people are wondering at what time you’ll explode. Its not easy going to work and finding that some people are nervous around you even though you mean them no harm. Its not easy being judged and harassed (which unfortunately is possible). Why is this a benefit you ask? By being patient and persevering, Allah may grant us forgiveness for our sins and shortcomings. If we have pure intentions Allah will reward us for our effort and hardships that we face in his path. One of the best reasons for keeping a beard is to please our Lord by following the Prophet. And does it really matter what people think? What is more important to us; the sunnah and our deen or the creation?

• Going back to the earlier comment regarding “some people being nervous around you” – I have found that after the initial phase when a few people seemed nervous around me, people have become more comfortable. This is yet another benefit. There may have been some people who did not trust or even like me at first, but by trying to exhibit good character and trying to show kindness (which is in accordance to Islam), people can learn to accept and like our brothers and sisters in the ummah, inshaAllah.

• The beard can identify you as a Muslim. There is benefit in this because if people see that there are practicing moderate Muslims around them, then they will realize that Islam isn’t something to be feared. It is human nature to fear what you don’t know or understand. Therefore, we need to be known and understood!

• Another practical benefit of growing your beard is that it can cover your pimples and some facial imperfections.

I don’t mean to paint a dark picture. When I started in a new job there were people who were kind to me from the start! There are people who have already known Muslims in the past and actually sympathize with what Muslims are going through nowadays. Lets not forget that we are not the only people to go through a tough period in the West. Our African American brothers came to this country as slaves. We must also remember how innocent Japanese people were held in detention centers in this country in World War II during this past century (one might even draw connections to the detention centers around the globe today that are being filled with Muslims). The bottom line is that with Allah subhana wa tala, we should expect the unexpected. We may expect poor treatment, discrimination, hatred, etc., yet we may find love, compassion, and sympathy. Allah provides help for His servants in ways that may not even be perceptible and in manners inconceivable. May God help myself, my brothers and my sisters to put our faith in God.

[Note: What is the true intended wisdom by Allah to keep a beard? Allahu alim, Allah and His Messenger know best. This list is a compilation of the benefits as seen by a practicing Muslim.]

I want to end with a request – please make dua for me that God forgives my sins, beautifies my character and grants me Jannat-al-Firdous.