Posts Tagged ‘Muslims’

40 Years a Muslim – In Memoriam: Merryl Wyn Davies of Merthyr Tydfil (1949-2021)

February 4, 2021
Merryl Wyn Davies giving concluding remarks at the inaugural Ibn Rushd lecture. Photo (c) Muslim Institute

Introduction: British converts to Islam in the 1970s/80s: Stevens, Davis & Davies

Bismillah. Growing up in a devout, immigrant Pakistani Muslim family in London in the 1970s & 80s amidst a somewhat-racist society, my experience was that it was natural that white, European converts to Islam would attract a lot of attention within Muslim communities. The most famous convert/revert/new-Muslim was, of course, Yusuf Islam: formerly, the musician Cat Stevens.

But there were also a couple of female converts who became household names in Muslim activist circles: Maryam Davis & Merryl Wyn Davies. Naturally, these two women were often confused for each other, and I imagine that many people might have thought they were the same person, with Merryl adopting the name Maryam upon conversion. However, as MWD made clear in this interview with Wales Online on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, she never changed her name. (Her reasoning was spot-on: there is no Islamic requirement for anyone to adopt an Arabic name; the Prophet, peace be upon him, only changed names that had idolatrous, polytheistic or bad connotations. The use of an Arabic or “Islamic” name is entirely up to the individual, depending on their journey: there are pros and cons involved. Many people use both their original name plus a “Muslim” name as well, depending on the situation.)

Maryam Davis’ conversion story, 1980s

As a teenager, I remember attending a lecture to a Muslim audience by one of them about the story of her conversion: I’m fairly, although not entirely, sure that this was Maryam Davis. She began by clarifying the difference between her and the other “MD”: she was the one without the ‘e’ in her surname: she said that ‘Davies’ was a Welsh surname whilst ‘Davis’ was English [I think of Steve Davis, the snooker legend].

(Or was it MWD, saying that she did have the ‘e’ ?) The thing that struck me most about Maryam Davis’ lecture was when she spoke of different events as forming a connected, unified thread through her life: I’d never heard such a reflection before, but it prepared me for the Sufi commentary that I read decades later about the Qur’anic story of Musa (Moses) & Khidr (the “Green Man” who is connected to the English legends of St. George & the “Green Man” of nature), where the 3 actions for which Moses rebuked Khidr were all reflections of incidents from Moses’ own life. The only other thing that I remember from this lecture is that MD had witnessed the so-called “Islamic [read: islamist] Revolution” in Iran, and it had helped to inspire her to convert. “Imagine a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people, all shouting Allahu Akbar [God is Greater / God is Greatest] ?” she said.

(I haven’t heard any news about Maryam Davis since the 1980s, and would be grateful if anyone can provide some.)

Merryl Wyn Davies & the Muslim Institute, 2010s-2020s

The thing is, MWD had also been influenced by the “Islamic [read: islamist] Revolution” (in Muslim circles, who wasn’t?), as she mentioned in her 2011 Wales Online interview. But she was later instrumental, along with Prof Zia Sardar & Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, in transforming the Muslim Institute, which had been strongly pro-Khomeinist (Shia islamist) under the leadership of Dr Kalim Siddiqui during the 80s & 90s, into a Fellowship-based organisation since the 2010s that is overwhelmingly critical of islamism. For example, its Winter Gathering 2019 was themed, Iran – The Revolution Goes Wrong.

See also this short but insightful speech by MWD at the MI’s inaugural Ibn Rushd lecture.

The Islamic Education Conference, Mecca, 1977

    Islamic Education Series, publ. Hodder & Stoughton / King Abdulaziz University. Proceedings of Muslim World League conference, 1977. Photo (c) Usama Hasan, 2021

    I first met MWD around 2010/11 at a MECO iftar in Oxford. She told me about the new Fellowship-based revamping of the Muslim Institute and encouraged me to join, which I did. After that, I met her almost every time I attended an MI event, which was probably every other year on average. So in total, I only met her half a dozen times or so, but it was always very inspiring to meet her and she left a deep impression on me because of her welcoming nature and love of life, people and knowledge.

    She once told me that she had covered the above conference in Mecca, hosted by the Muslim World League and the King Abdul Aziz University, for the BBC or other international, English media. Given the difficulties for a woman to direct and produce media interviews in Saudi at the time, she had turned her hotel room into a makeshift studio. My recollection of her account is that this was at the Intercontinental Hotel that was just outside Mecca, outside the limits of the haram sanctuary, so non-Muslims are allowed to stay there (MWD converted to Islam a few years after the 1977 conference, in 1981).

    The Islamic Education Conference of 1977 was clearly very influential: 313 scholars from around the world assembled in Mecca. (Almost certainly, the number 313 was deliberately chosen to match the number of Muslim warriors at the first, historic and decisive battle between Islam and its 1,000-strong enemy at Badr, between Mecca and Medina.) It also came about a year after the 1976 World of Islam festival in London that notably attracted an editorial in The Times newspaper. (I have listened to audio recordings of all the main lectures from the WOI festival, along with Q+A.) Many scholars would have attended both conferences.

    Standard blurb for every volume of the Islamic Education Series, publ. Hodder & Stoughton / King Abdulaziz University. Proceedings of Muslim World League conference, 1977. Photo (c) Usama Hasan, 2021

    The influence of this conference around the Muslim world is obvious from a list of the editors and contributors to each volume:

    1. Aims & Objectives of Islamic Education, ed. Syed Naqib Al-Attas
    2. Crisis in Muslim Education, ed. Syed Sajad Husain & Syed Ali Ashraf
    3. Education & Society in the Muslim World, ed. Mohammad Wasiullah Khan
    4. Curriculum & Teacher Education, ed. Muhammad Hamid Al-Afendi & Nabi Ahmed Baloch
    5. Social & Natural Sciences, ed. Ismail Rajhi Al-Faruqi & Abdullah Omar Naseef
    6. Philosophy, Literature & Fine Arts, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr

    Further Contributors:

    Saeed Ateyya Abu Aali, Abdul Haq Ansari, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad al-Aroosi, Zaki Badawi, Ilyas Ba-Yunus, Ahmad al-Beely, AK Brohi, Ibrahim Titus Burckhardt, Abdul G Chaudhri, Prince Muhammad al-Faisal, Syed Altaf Gauhar, MM Ghaly, Abdul Hamid al-Hashimi, Peter Hobson (Ismail Abdul Baqi), SM Hossain, Sayyid Waqar Ahmad Husaini, Ahmad Salah Jamjoom, Kazi A Kadir, Syed Ali Muhammad Khusro, Abdul Halim Khaldoon Kinany, Ahmed Rifat Abdul Latif, Saibo Mohamed Mauroof, Jean-Louis Michon (Ali Abdul Khaliq), Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, HM Abdul Quddoos Qasmi, Muhammad Qutb, Afzalur Rahman, Ata-ur-Rahman, Muhammad Al-Ahmed Al-Rasheed, Ghulam Nabi Saqib, AFA Sayeed, Ahmed Shalabi, Muhammad Ansar Ahmed Shami, Hadi Sharifi, Abdul Hamid Siddiqui, Kalim Siddiqui, Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqui, Abdul Hamid Abu Suleiman, Basheer Tom, SM Yusuf.

    (The reader will notice that the above list of scholars is entirely male. This underlines MWD’s perseverance to conduct dozens of interviews as a young, Welsh woman in a very male world on the outskirts of Mecca.)

    Islamic Education Series, publ. Hodder & Stoughton / King Abdulaziz University. Proceedings of Muslim World League conference, 1977. Photo (c) Usama Hasan, 2021

    I have actually never read these volumes, although they’ve been in my possession for over 20 years, but I plan to do so now God-willing, and partly to honour Merryl.

    Back to the Muslim Institute, 2010s

    At the 2016 Winter Gathering, during the “ISIS years,” I was asked to speak about Wahhabism. I think I was expected to focus on its negatives, given a talk I had given there 3 years earlier in 2013 that had been written up as an anti-Wahhabi polemic by Andrew Brown of The Guardian. (I had begun that or an earlier talk by saying what an honour it was to address the annual Muslim Institute gathering for the first time, in the presence of so many honourable friends and especially childhood inspirations: in the latter category, I specifically named Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies, who inspired me separately but obviously did great work together for decades.)

    However, as a Wahhabi-Sufi or Salafi-Sufi (“Salufi”), the gist of my talk was that the negatives were well-known, and I focussed on the positives of Wahhabism/Salafism: a strict egalitarianism and rejection of ultimate authorities besides God and His Prophet; a rejection of superstition and other harmful innovations, as opposed to good innovations; an emphasis on a return to the authentic sources, reason and spirit of Islam; promotion of some women’s rights, including female imams & women’s rights to divorce; a rejection of madhhabism, including the absurd practices of multiple prayer-services according to the different timings and methods of schools such as the Hanafi & Shafi’i. (Multiple prayer-services and sectarian minbars/pulpits had been correctly abolished under Wahhabi/Salafi influence in Mecca, Damascus & elsewhere.)

    I argued that the MI crowd in practice were influenced positively by aspects of Wahhabism, since they weren’t into madhhabism, rigid legalism or superstition and fake sufism. I also argued that the narrow-mindedness and intolerance of many Wahhabi groups was not unique to them, but actually shared by many traditionalist Muslims, whether Sunni or Shia. In fact, Wahhabism could be regarded as the most conservative and puritanical interpretation of Sunni Islam: it was a failure of Sunnis, and Muslims generally, to blame problems like Al-Qaeda & ISIS purely on Wahhabism, when in fact these groups quoted medieval Sunni texts all the time. (As one scholar at the Sufi-friendly 2015 Marrakesh Declaration conference put it: we cannot condemn ISIS for reintroducing slavery etc. and simultaneously teach jurisprudential texts about such matters all the time in our seminaries! We must reform our curricula to help stop any resurgence of ISIS.) I suppose that some of my arguments are similar to those of Natana Delong-Bas’ Wahhabi Islam.

    I was dreading a hostile reception, since the MI crowd are not exactly fans of Wahhabis/Salafis. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the generally positive, or at least neutral, reception I received. And it was Merryl who took the time to engage with me most profoundly, recommending that I read Geoffrey Robertson’s book about The Levellers, a movement that had evolved from the Puritans and were early Western radical democrats. (The Puritans under Oliver Cromwell had banned the celebration of Christmas in the UK – I had mentioned in my talk that this was a parallel with Wahhabi and other puritan movements within Islam.) I haven’t read this book yet, but plan to do so now God-willing, and partly to honour Merryl.

    She was approximately Mum’s age, and always had that kind, motherly approach to complement her uncompromising devotion to principle and her sharp wit. At that last meeting, she also asked me directly, rather than listening to hearsay, about something Ayaan Hirsi Ali had attributed to me on BBC TV. I confirmed that Ali had misquoted me. “I thought so,” Merryl replied in her lovely Welsh accent, “I nearly fell off my sofa when she claimed you’d said that!”

    As the Muslim Institute’s touching tribute to Merryl shows, she was very proud of her Welsh heritage and referred to the Wales men’s rugby team as “my boys.” My last interaction with her, as far as I can remember, was when I posted some photos on Facebook of my 2018 tour of the Principality (formerly Millenium) Stadium in Cardiff, home of her national team. Merryl commented on the following photo from the stadium display, showing men dressed in traditional Welsh warrior costumes, holding a large, partially-sheathed sword. (I was struck by this photo because of the similarity to traditional Arab/Eastern/African costumes.) Merryl explained the traditional Welsh cries associated with a particular festival, where they unsheath and then sheath the sword and make several exclamations about upholding peace.

    Men in traditional Welsh dress, unsheathing then sheathing a sword & making exclamations about upholding peace, as explained to me by Merryl Wyn Davies in 2018. Photo displayed at the Principality (formerly Millenium) Stadium, Cardiff. Photo (c) Usama Hasan, 2018

    I learnt of Merryl’s departure, and her final resting place in the blessed city of Kuala Lumpur, yesterday afternoon. After sunset prayers, we prayed the funeral prayer in absentia (salat al-janazah ‘ala l-gha’ibah / janaza ghaebana) for her as a family.

    Merryl was a Muslim in the technical sense for 40 years, from her conversion to Islam in 1981 to her death this year, 2021.

    She was working for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) when 9/11 happened, helping with their communications. She returned to God the day after the MCB announced its first female Secretary-General, who had won the election for that post. I don’t know much about the new Sec-Gen, or whether or not this news reached Merryl, but there is no doubt that she was one of the pioneering female activists within British Muslim communities for a whole generation, or even lifetime (40 years), before this historic moment. I’m sure Merryl would have welcomed the fact that a Muslim woman had finally broken this glass ceiling.

    Our heartfelt condolences to all her family and friends on our collective loss.

    Her name meant ‘a small thing from the sea’ in Welsh. Her hometown name, Merthyr Tydfil, means “(Mausoleum of the Relics of) Tydfil the Martyr” after a female, Christian, pre-Islamic Welsh martyr (5th century CE).

    May Allah receive our “Merryl of Merthyr” with Mercy, accept her as a martyr (witness and shaheed to God) and shower upon her infinite Oceans of Love, Truth and Peace: values that she upheld valiantly throughout her blessed life. Amin.

    U.H., London, UK, 4th February 2021 / 21st Jumada al-Thani 1442 (daytime)

    Edited: 6th February 2021 / 24th Jumada al-Thani 1442 (after sunset)

    Postscript: On 6th February 2021 / 23rd Jumada al-Thani 1442 (before sunset), about a dozen of us met online to discuss issues and possible solutions related to the needs of British converts/reverts to Islam. We ended the meeting by fittingly saying a collective prayer for Merryl and praising God for her inspiring life.

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    Taqiyyah Sunrise: Shining Light on Contemporary Deception

    December 22, 2019

     

    With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful

    Let not the Believers

    Take for friends or helpers

    Unbelievers rather than Believers:

    If any do that, in nothing will there be help

    From Allah: except by way of precaution,

    That ye may guard yourselves from them.

    [Qur’an, The Family of Imran (Amram), 3:28 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation]

    There has been some discussion over the past few weeks over the uses and misuses of the term taqiyyah within Islamic jurisprudence. This article seeks to clarify the origins, meaning, and application of the concept of taqiyyah. In doing so, my purpose is to minimise its use, as part of a hostile narrative which paints Muslims are religiously-obligated liars.

    I also attempt to explain the damage which the malicious misuse of that term inflicts on British Muslims.

    The context of the verse quoted above is the melodramatic battle between the Meccan Unbelievers and Medinan Believers that took place in the earliest days of Islam. The Arabic for “precaution” is tuqaah, an alternative version of which is taqiyyah. As a footnote, as advanced students of Qur’anic studies will know, there are 20 equally-valid recitations of the Qur’an from a basic text that had no vowels or diacritical marks: two of these versions read taqiyyah, whilst the rest read it as the synonymous tuqaah.

    The main meaning of the verse is very simple and rather obvious: in times of conflict, one may protect oneself from one’s enemy by apparently ingratiating oneself with them means of dissimulation. This was particularly important for the Muslims persecuted in Mecca, and explains why Ibn Kathir, the 14th-century Qur’anic scholar of Damascus, related it explicitly to the following one:

    Anyone who, after accepting Faith in Allah,

    Utters unbelief – except under compulsion,

    His heart remaining firm in Faith – but such as

    Open their breast to Unbelief – on them is Wrath from Allah,

    And theirs will be a dreadful penalty.

    [Qur’an, The Honey-Bee, 16:106]

    That passage makes it clear that the exception to the basic moral obligation to tell the truth about one’s religious faith applies only in circumstances of compulsion. This was not a purely hypothetical situation in the first days of Islam. Many of the Prophet’s early followers were forced, under pain of death, to practice taqiyyah, although some of them notably preferred to express their faith and achieve martyrdom. The above verse was revealed to the Prophet regarding the case of Ammar, son of Yasir and Sumayyah, all of whom were slaves owned by Meccan polytheists. Yasir and Sumayyah were both killed by their owners for rejecting polytheism and embracing monotheism: Sumayyah, a woman, was the first martyr of Islam. But Ammar wasn’t quite as strong as his parents, and was given permission to hide his monotheistic faith by outwardly professing polytheism.

    Throughout Islamic history, therefore, persecuted people often had to resort to taqiyyah. The most famous examples of these originate in the experience of the Shia minority, who were often oppressed by Sunni rulers: although this situation was sometimes reversed in regional variations. Muslims persecuted during the Crusades, Reconquista and Spanish Inquisition also applied the principle of taqiyyah for self-preservation.

    The principle of taqiyyah is, as you might expect, not limited to Islam: faced with severe persecution or death, and especially in war, most moral and religious codes permit dissimulation. “War is deception” is a principle found across many cultures, from Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War onwards. A takfiri jihadist, particularly one who had been caught and imprisoned while engaged in terrorism, might well believe that he was being persecuted, or was at war, and therefore was permitted to engage in religiously sanctioned dishonesty. It is not objectionable to point that out. However, many of the most deadly forms of incitement and stereotyping often take the form of distortion and misapplication.

    To take a parallel example, the Hebrew term “hasbara”, which means “explaining” or “diplomacy” is commonly deployed by antisemites to suggest that Jews customarily engage in insincere propagandistic deception, and so should never be believed. There is a significant difference between observing, on the one hand, that a particular statement from a named Israeli government minister is propaganda, and suggesting that everything that Jews say can be dismissed as lies, on the other.

    In a similar manner, it has become a common trope of anti-Muslim hatred, in particular by the far-right, to accuse all Muslims of taqiyyah. It is an accusation that is obviously impossible to rebut in the eyes of the haters, because no matter what Muslims may say or do, they may be practising taqiyyah!

    That the alt-right and far-right peddle conspiracy theories involving taqiyyah is not surprising. But it is disappointing that The Times of London, one of the most important newspapers in the world, should publish Melanie Phillips saying so.

    Melanie Phillips is a Times columnist and often appears on the BBC in its TV and radio programmes such as Question Time and The Moral Maze. She also writes for the Jewish Chronicle. In her article, “Islamists are not the same as other prisoners,” (The Times, 3 December 2019) she claims that “taqiyya, the command to deceive for Islam … is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practises it.” Her authority? A minor Lebanese academic who is a member of the relatively heterodox Druze sect. This is a bit like deploying Neturei Karta against mainstream Jewish sects, or quoting a Jehovah’s Witness as an authority on the doctrinal content of post-Nicene Christianity.

    There is value in deepening our collective understanding of the commonalities between the approaches Abrahamic faiths: a task which I, a priest and a rabbi attempt to undertake in our book: People of the Book: How Jews, Christians and Muslims understand their Sacred Scriptures. Jewish and Islamic jurisprudence have many similarities, and an analogous principle to taqiyyah is found in Judaism: Rabbi Michael C. Hilton writes, “Melanie Phillips should know that there are important Jewish precedents for hiding your beliefs in a situation of persecution.”

    And Rabbi Mark Solomon of London writes,

    “I teach about taqiya in the context of medieval philosophers (like Maimonides) using taqiya to obscure their most radical ideas behind a screen of orthodoxy, but to accuse all Muslims of it is deception of a different order.”

    Ironically, the vast majority of Muslims, 80% of whom are non-Arab, are probably unaware of this obscure concept that is mentioned only once in the entire Qur’an. To give an example, Osama Filali-Naji, founder of the Arab Millenials network, comments:

    Interestingly, growing up as a Sunni Muslim, I never heard of the concept. The first I learned of it was from islamophobes who claimed I was practising taqiyyah. Ultimate paranoia!

    It is true that hardened islamist terrorists, such as the Al-Qaeda & ISIS supporter Usman Khan who murdered two people at Fishmongers’ Hall, do misuse the principle of taqiyyah in order to further their cause. However, the charge that all Muslims are generally religiously obligated to lie, and do so routinely, is both dangerous and untrue. Moreover, it is dehumanising. It suggests that deception is in our nature, and that we are not to be trusted. At secondary school in North London in the 1980s, I learned in history classes that the Nazis had compared Jews to rats in cinema films. In 2013, at the Museum of the Jewish People at Tel Aviv University, I remember my horror in viewing the Nazi footage that painted Jews as a plague on humanity. We understand, from the experience of too many persecuted minorities throughout the world, the deadly consequences of years of the steady, drip-drip effect of demonisation.

    This is not a new complaint: just over a decade ago, Ed Husain warned of such use of the taqiyyah trope by the same writer. More recently, the Deputy Director of Hope Not Hate, writing in the Jewish Chronicle, TellMAMA and Dr Hisham Hellyer have raised similar concerns.

    I cannot overstate how damaging the charge that Muslims are directed by their religion to lie has been. It is impossible for us to “prove ourselves” against the backdrop of this pernicious accusation of taqiyyah and consequent implication that Muslims can never be trusted. The Times, the JC, the Spectator, and the BBC should be ashamed of promoting someone who has made this charge against us for so many years.

    Seventeen years ago, the New Statesman published an issue with a front cover which referred to a “Kosher Conspiracy”. The language of that headline invoked ancient accusations that Jews were conspiring to control the government. The subsequent reputational damage to that magazine, and to its then editor Peter Wilby, was significant.

    The Times should learn the lessons of that episode. It is outrageous that a respected national newspaper should render the tropes of anti-Muslim hatred mainstream in this manner.

    (Imam Dr) Usama Hasan

    London, UK

    22nd December, 2019

    This article is slightly modified from the version published by the Jewish Chronicle on 19/12/19.  The main modification is the addition of several hyperlinks, plus a couple of other edits.  In particular, the taqiyyah reading is found in 1/10 qira’ats (Ya’qub al-Hadrami only), equating to 2/20 riwayats (Rawh & Ruways from Ya’qub), and not 1/20 as I incorrectly stated in the JC version.

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    Jesuit Muslims

    December 28, 2016

    JESUIT MUSLIMS (OR MUSLIM JESUITS)

    From Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah [The Meccan Revelations], Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi [House of Revival of Arab Heritage], Beirut, 1418/1997, vol. 1, pp. 286-291.

    [NB: This is not about the Christian, Roman Catholic Order of Jesuits, but refers to Muslims who also follow Jesus in their practices and states.]

    —

    With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful

    Chapter 36: On the recognition of [Muslim] Jesuits …

    Know, may God strengthen you, that the Way of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, includes all previous ways, and that the latter have no validity in this world save that of them that is endorsed by the Muhammadan Way, by the endorsement of which they remain valid. We exert ourselves in worship via these ways because Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, endorsed them, not because the prophet specific to that way in his time endorsed it.

    This is why the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, was given “Comprehensive Words” (jawami’ al-kalim). Thus, when a Muhammadan does a work, and the entire responsible universe today of human and jinn is Muhammadan, for there is no divine way in the universe today except for the Muhammadan Way, this worker from the [Muslim] nation may coincide in his work, with an opening in his heart and path, with a path of one of the previous prophets that it is included in this Way, which endorses it and the result of following it. Thus, such a person will be attributed to the founder of that way and called Jesuit (‘Isawi), Mosaic (Musawi) or Abrahamic (Ibrahimi) …

    There is no prophethood with a way (shar’) after Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace … This is why it is mentioned in the report that “the people of knowledge are the inheritors of the prophets” …

    The original Jesuits are the disciples and followers of Jesus … the second Jesuits are those who followed Jesus directly without a veil and then followed him via Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and there is an experiential difference between the two. This is why the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said about such a person, “Truly, he will be rewarded twice” [cf. Qur’an, The Story, 28:52-55], and similarly, such a person has two different sets of inheritances, openings and experiences, in each of which he is only attributed to the relevant prophet.

    These are the second Jesuits. Their base of principles is to unify God, free of all likenesses. This is because the initiation into existence of Jesus, peace be upon him, was not by way of a human male, but by the manifestation (or likeness) of a spirit in the form of a human [Q. Mary 19:17]. This is why the doctrine of God manifested in a form dominated the nation of Jesus, son of Mary, over all other nations: they make forms, images and likenesses in their churches, and worship within themselves by focusing their attention on these. The origin of their prophet, peace be upon him, was by a likeness, so this reality has continued amongst his nation until now.

    Then, when the Way of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, came and forbade likenesses (images), whilst he, peace be upon him, included the reality of Jesus, and his way in his, he laid the path for us, peace be upon him, “that we worship God as though we see Him,” in imagination, which is the meaning of making images. But he forbade us from this (making images) in the sensual/physical world, lest physical forms or images [of God] should appear in this nation.

    Furthermore, this particular teaching, “Worship God as though you see Him,” was not stated to us by Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, directly; rather, it was stated by Gabriel, peace be upon him, and it was he who appeared in the total likeness of a man to Mary at the conception of Jesus, peace be upon him … We were the ones addressed by that statement, which is why it occurs at the end of the tradition, “This was Gabriel: he wished for you to know, since you would not ask”; or in other narrations, “He came to teach the people their religion,” or “He came to you, to teach you your religion” …

    Moreover, you should know that their [the Jesuits’] base of principles also includes the teaching that comes from ways other than that of Jesus, peace be upon him, “… but if you were not able to see Him, then truly, He sees you.”

    Our shaykh, Abu l-‘Abbas al-‘Uraybi, may God have mercy upon him, was Jesuit at the end and extent of his path, which was the beginning of ours [i.e. the beginning of Ibn ‘Arabi’s path was Jesuit]; then we moved to a solar, Mosaic opening, then to Hud, peace be upon him, then to all the prophets, peace be upon them. After that, we moved to Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. Thus was our matter in this path, may God establish us in it and not divert us from the straightness of the path …

    Jesuits have extremely active aspiration, their prayers are answered and their speech is heard. One of the signs of the Jesuits, if you wish to recognise them, is that you will see each of them having mercy and compassion towards everyone, whoever they are, no matter what religion they follow. They entrust other people’s matters to God: when they address the servants of God, they do not utter anything that will constrain people’s hearts in respect of anyone at all.

    Another of their signs is that they see the best in everything and only goodness flows from their tongues … e.g.

    (1) What is narrated from Jesus, peace be upon him, that he saw a pig and said to it, “Go safely, in peace.” Upon being asked about this, he replied, “I train my tongue to speak goodness.”

    (2) The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, passed by a carcass and said, “How beautifully white are its teeth!” whereas those with him said, “How horrible is its stench!”

    (3) The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, commanded the killing of snakes in specific situations and informed us that God loves courage, even if only in killing snakes. However, despite this, when he was in the cave in Mina where Surah al-Mursalat [Qur’an Chapter: The Messengers, no. 77] descended upon him (it is known as the Cave of al-Mursalat until today – I have entered it, seeking blessings), a snake came out of its hole and the Companions rushed to kill it but it frustrated them, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, “Truly, God saved it from your evil just as He saved you from its evil.”

    [3a] He thus named it (killing snakes) “evil”, even though it is a commanded matter, just like His saying, Most Exalted, regarding retribution, “The reward of a bad deed is a bad deed like it; [so whoever forgives and reforms, their reward is with God: truly, He does not love the oppressors” – Q. Consultation 42:40] – He named retribution a “bad deed” and encouraged forgiveness.

    Thus, the Prophet’s eye, may God bless him and grant him peace, only fell upon the best aspect of the carcass. Similarly, the friends of God only see the best in everything they look at: they are blind to the faults of people, although not to faults in themselves, for they have been commanded to avoid these. Similarly, they are deaf against listening to obscenity and dumb against uttering bad words, even if this is allowed in some places.

    This is how we have known them [the Jesuits], so Glory be to the One who purified them, chose them and guided them to the straight path. “They are the ones whom God has guided: by their guidance, follow!” [Q. Cattle 6:90]

    This is the station of Jesus, peace be upon him, within Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, for he preceded him in time and these states were transmitted from him by the latter. God said to His Prophet [Muhammad], may God bless him and grant him peace, after mentioning several prophets including Jesus, peace be upon them, “They are the ones whom God has guided: by their guidance, follow!” [Q. Cattle 6:90].

    However, the station of Messenger determines that the beautiful must be explained and distinguished from the ugly in order to be known, as the Exalted said, “… that you may explain to the people what has been revealed to them” [Q. The Honey-Bee 16:44]. Thus, when he explained the bad side of a person, it was by inspiration from God, such as his saying about someone, “What a bad son of his tribe!” Similarly, Khidr killed a lad and said about him, “His nature had been stamped as an ingrate unbeliever (kafir)” and reported that if he had left him alive, he would have behaved badly towards his parents. He also said, “I did not do that of my own accord.” [i.e. it was by God’s command; Q. The Cave 18:74, 80-82]

    Thus, the essences of such people, whether prophets or saints, are characterised by kind speech, seeing the best in everything and listening attentively only to goodness. However, if there is the occasional exception to this, it is by divine command, not from their own tongue.

    This is what we have mentioned of the states of the Jesuits, as facilitated by God upon my tongue, “and God speaks the Truth and He guides to the Way.” [Q. The Confederates 33:4]

    Abridgment and Translation: Usama Hasan

    London, 28th December 2016 / 29th Rabi’ al-Awwal 1438

     

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    A FATWA ON ZAKAT AL-FITR AND FOOD BANKS IN THE UK

    July 16, 2015

    WITH THE NAME OF GOD, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL

    A FATWA ON ZAKAT AL-FITR (“FAST-BREAKING ALMS-GIVING” AT THE END OF RAMADAN) & FOOD BANKS IN THE UK

    Measuring foodstuffs for zakat al-fitr

    (Please click here for a PDF of this fatwa: Zakat al-Fitr and food banks)

    All Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.  Peace and Blessings of God be upon His Noble Messengers.

    1. The “fast-breaking alms-giving” (zakat al-fitr or sadaqat al-fitr) is a confirmed Islamic tradition at the end of Ramadan, of donating food (in the form of staple foodstuffs) to poor people before Eid prayer in the morning of the day of Eid. The majority of jurists hold that zakat al-fitr is compulsory (fard), whilst a minority hold that it is a highly-recommended tradition (sunna); a small minority even argued that it was abrogated by the full obligation of zakat.
    2. Any charitable donation may be sent abroad. However, it is a basic Islamic principle, in common with other religions, that “Charity begins at home,” or as the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, expressed it repeatedly, “Begin with your dependants.” (ibda’ bi man ta’ul, a sound hadith with several narrations)  Thus, it is recommended for Muslims in Britain to distribute their zakat al-fitr offerings locally.  Furthermore, God and His Prophets repeatedly recommend the rights of neighbours: regarding food, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, emphatically taught, “By God, they are not trustworthy believers: those who spend the night with stomachs full whilst their neighbours go hungry!”
    3. Zakat al-fitr is usually given as food items; the Hanafi jurists allowed the giving of cash, but this was with the intention that the poor recipients may use the cash to buy food or other essential items. Therefore, it remains an option to donate zakat al-fitr as either food items or cash.
    4. The amount of zakat al-fitr payable is, per wealthy Muslim head (adult or child), traditionally equal to one saa’ (approximately 3 litres in volume[1]) of the staple food item, or possibly half of one saa’ (approximately 1.5 litres) for more expensive foodstuffs.[2] One saa’ equates to the following approximate weight of common UK staple foods: rice 2.5kg, flour 2kg, pasta 1kg, porridge (porage) oats 1kg; by comparison, one saa’ of dates (not a UK staple food) weighs approximately 2kg.[3]
    5. The retail prices of the above items imply that UK zakat al-fitr is approximately £3-£5 per person. Some jurists recommend, to be safe, giving 3kg of staple food, which would be more than one saa’ in the vast majority of cases of staple food.
    6. Alternatively, the zakat al-fitr amount was traditionally understood to be the equivalent of food for one or two meals, each meal consisting of one or two mudds (one saa’ = four mudds). Since an average, filling meal costs roughly £2.50-5.00 in the UK currently, this approach gives us a similar answer, i.e. zakat al-fitr at £2.50-5.00 or £5-10.
    7. Traditionally, zakat al-fitr was mostly given to poor Muslims: most jurists held that poor people who were not Muslim were not eligible to receive zakat al-fitr, since both poverty and Islam were conditions for recipients. But Imam Abu Hanifa and others held that poor dhimmis (non-Muslim People of Scripture, protected by Muslim authorities) were eligible to receive it, since poverty was the only condition for recipients.
    8. Since the category of dhimmis was abolished by the Ottoman caliph in 1856 in favour of equal citizenship (muwatana) irrespective of faith or religion, and since Muslims comprise only 4-5% of the population of Britain where all citizens are equal, zakat al-fitr in the UK may simply go to poor people, irrespective of their religion, faith or belief (or lack thereof).
    9. With up to a million annual estimated uses of food banks by people in the UK to complement their situation of poverty, an obvious way for Muslims to distribute their zakat al-fitr locally is via their local food banks. Since the recipients do not have to be Muslim, based on the view of Imam Abu Hanifa, this should pose no problem religiously.  Food banks based in areas of the UK with Muslim-majority populations, or those run by mosques, are likely to have recipients who are mainly Muslim.
    10. Suggestions for the staple foodstuffs of people in the UK include, but are not limited to: bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals, flour, couscous, etc. (Traditionally, zakat al-fitr has been given in solid staple foodstuffs, whereas for fidya and kaffara, bread was prominently given, accompanied by oil, fat, vinegar, meat, etc. – cf. Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Qur’an 5:89 & 5:95. Long-life milk and juice is in demand at UK foodbanks, and it is arguable that these liquids are also UK staple foods.)
    11. It is thus recommended for wealthy Muslims in the UK who wish to distribute their zakat al-fitr to do so either directly to needy families, else via their local food bank, else via cash to a local, national or international charity.
    12. May God accept and bless our worship during Ramadan, Eid and all year round, and guide us towards helping to eliminate poverty and unnecessary hunger.

    (Sheikh Dr) Usama Hasan: London (UK), 29th Ramadan 1436 / 16th July 2015

    APPENDIX: SOME BACKGROUND RESEARCH

     

    1. EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK OF ZAKAT AL-FITR (“FAST-BREAKING ALMSGIVING”) by IBN RUSHD / AVERROES[4]

    Its ruling: The majority of jurists hold that zakat al-fitr is compulsory (fard).

    The ‘Iraqi jurists and some of the later Maliki ones hold that it is a recommended tradition (sunna).

    Some said that it was abrogated by the obligation of zakat, based on the hadith of Qays bin Sa’d bin ‘Ubadah, who said, “The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to order us to give it [zakat al-fitr] before the obligation of zakat was revealed.  When the verse of zakat was revealed, we were neither commanded to, nor forbidden from, giving it [zakat al-fitr], but we continue doing so.”[5]

     

    When does zakat al-fitr become obligatory?

    Abu Hanifa and Malik via Ibn al-Qasim: At dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr.

    Shafi’i and Malik via Ashhab: At sunset on the last day of Ramadan.

    Thus, for a newborn baby between these two times, there is disagreement as to whether or not zakat al-fitr is due on his/her behalf.

     

    Recipients

    Poor Muslims may receive it, by consensus (ijma’).

    As for poor dhimmis [protected non-Muslims], most of the jurists say that they may not receive it. Imam Abu Hanifa said that they may receive it. Some said that only monks amongst dhimmis may receive it.

     

     

    1. EXTRACT FROM FATH AL-BARI, IBN HAJAR AL-‘ASQALANI’S COMMENTARY ON SAHIH AL-BUKHARI, CHAPTERS ON SADAQAH AL-FITR, HADITHS NOS. 1503-1512 (translations of these hadiths widely available)

    http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=965&BookID=33&PID=2783

    Ja’far al-Firyabi narrated in his Kitab Sadaqat al-Fitr (Book of Fast-Breaking Almsgiving) that when Ibn ‘Abbas was the governor of Basra, he ordered the giving of zakat al-fitr: a saa’ of dates etc. or half a saa’ of wheat. When ‘Ali came and saw the cheap prices, he commanded that a saa’ measure be used for all foodstuffs, indicating that he considered the value of the food, whilst Abu Sa’id considered the volume of the food.

    ويدل على أنهم لحظوا ذلك ما روى جعفر الفريابي في ” كتاب صدقة الفطر ” أنابن عباس لما كان أمير البصرة أمرهم بإخراج زكاة الفطر وبين لهم أنها صاع من تمر ، إلى أن قال : أو نصف صاع من بر . قال : فلما جاء علي ورأى رخص أسعارهم قال : اجعلوها صاعا من كل ، فدل على أنه كان ينظر إلى القيمة في ذلك ، ونظرأبو سعيد إلى الكيل كما سيأتي .

     

    1. ABOUT UK FOOD BANKS

    In the UK, the Trussell Trust (http://www.trusselltrust.org/) runs a network of foodbanks, although there are many other independent foodbanks and collection points run by churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, community centres, etc.  Trussell can help community and faith organisations to begin a foodbank, and also have a partnership with Tesco, such that every Tesco store is potentially a foodbank collection point.  Many foodbanks distribute food parcels to the needy on one day each week.

    Trussell’s recommended items for foodbanks, based on http://www.trusselltrust.org/resources/documents/foodbank/website-shopping-list.pdf and variations in printed leaflets from Trussell:

    • Milk (long-life/UHT or powdered)
    • Sugar
    • Fruit Juice (long-life or carton)
    • Soup / Hot Chocolate
    • Pasta Sauces
    • Sponge Pudding (tinned)
    • Cereals
    • Rice pudding / Custard
    • Tea Bags / Instant Coffee
    • Instant Mashed Potato
    • Rice / Pasta
    • Tinned Meat / Fish
    • Tinned Fruit, incl. tomatoes
    • Jam
    • Biscuits or Snack Bars
    1. APPROXIMATE WEIGHT (MASS) OF ONE SAA’ (THREE LITRES) OF VARIOUS FOODSTUFFS, THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF ZAKAT AL-FITR TO BE GIVEN PER PERSON

    This is based on simple measuring out and weighing using a measuring container and scales found in an average kitchen, by the author on the date of the fatwa. (This is a fun, instructive and educational activity for adults and children towards a religious, humanitarian objective.)

    • Rice 2.4kg
    • Flour (medium chapatti) 1.8kg
    • Dates (sticky Saudi ones) 2.1kg
    • Pasta (white fusilli) 1.0kg
    • Porridge / porage oats (Scott’s) 1.1kg
    • Corn Flakes (Kellogg’s) 480g
    • Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes (Kellogg’s) 600g
    • Cheerios (Nestle) 360g

     

    1. EXAMPLE OF DIY ZAKAT AL-FITR IN ACTION IN THE UK

    On this date, the author and his wife are blessed with four children, so the following foodstuffs, all in 500g packets, were bought from a local supermarket and delivered to a local foodbank collection point, by the grace of God:

    Rice 5kg

    Pasta 3kg

    Porridge oats 2.5kg

    Total cost: £20, working out at just under £3.50 per head for a family of six

    May Allah (God) accept and bless our Ramadan and Eid!

    FOOTNOTES / REFERENCES

    [1] Cf. http://www.bakkah.net/en/zakat-fitr-measurements-saa-three-litres-mudd.htm

    [2] Cf. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Zakat, Chapters on Sadaqat al-Fitr, Hadiths nos. 1503-1512

    [3] Note that 3 litres of water weigh exactly 3kg, so this implies that all these foods are less dense (“lighter”) than water. In fact, they are denser than water but the air trapped between the food particles means that 3 litres of food generally weighs less than 3 litres of water (3kg).

    [4] Extracted from: Ibn Rushd al-Qurtubi al-Andalusi [Averroes], Bidayat al-Mujtahid [The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer], Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1418/1997, vol. 1, pp. 413-420; a full English translation of this work is available, by Prof. Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee

    [5] Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, Hakim & Bayhaqi

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    The coward of the caliphate

    July 1, 2015

    Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim [With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful]

    [MUSLIM TUNISIA – LOGO]

    BREAKING NEWS: Tens of innocent holiday-makers, supporting the economy of Muslim Tunisia and the livelihoods of Tunisian Muslims, killed and injured in a cowardly attack in the city of Sousse in Muslim Tunisia

    9 Ramadan 1436 [26 June 2015]

    In a cowardly attack, which God facilitated Muslim members of the local security services to cut short and save many innocent lives, a coward of the so-called caliphate, the loser Abu Yahya, calling himself al-Qayrawani, as though he was steeped in prayer and learning at one of the world’s most ancient mosques and universities, although neither was the case, launched an inhuman attack upon Muslim-owned resorts where innocent, guest civilians were enjoying their summer holidays, supporting the economy of Muslim Tunisia and the livelihoods of Tunisian Muslims, and benefiting from traditional Muslim hospitality in the city of Sousse. Taking advantage of soft targets on the al-Qantawi beach: men, women and children, including families and the elderly, our deluded brother was unfortunately able to reach the Imperial Hotel. Rather than attempting to share the beautiful teachings of mercy, compassion and kindness of the Noble Qur’an and the Holy Prophet, a mercy to the worlds, Abu Yahya mercilessly killed nearly forty people aged 19 to 80 in cold blood and injured just as many, leaving little children psychologically and emotionally traumatised. Most of them were nationals of western democracies where millions of Muslims enjoy unparalleled freedom and prosperity as equal citizens, including the freedom to practise their faith and criticise their governments. This was a painful blow and a message dyed with blood to the 99% Muslim Tunisia and their civilised friends of all faiths and humanistic philosophies, from a small band of people devoid of true faith, understanding, compassion or humanity. Civilised people should seek God’s refuge and protection against more sad news in the coming days, by the permission of God, for in Muslim Tunisia, there are hate-filled, ruthless and raging madmen who do not sleep on the absurd grievances taught to them by their tours of qital [fighting for the sake of fighting, devoid of ethics and humanity] in Iraq, Syria, Libya and elsewhere. We ask God to accept the innocent victims amongst the ranks of the martyrs, and make from their blood a ray of light to illuminate the path of noble and courageous people everywhere. We ask God to envelop the innocent victims in His Mercy and Compassion, and to deal with their murderer with His Infinite Justice. [END]

    The caption under the photo of Seifeddine Rezgui that is being circulated online reads, The coward of the so-called caliphate Abu Yahya (may God deal with him harshly), the loser who carried out the attack on Muslim Tunisia, murdering people from the same western nations that taught him to enjoy break-dancing and the football of Real Madrid

     

    Make sense?  Now read the pathetic and monstrous original:

    [ISLAMIC STATE TUNISIA – LOGO]

    BREAKING NEWS: Tens of Crusader coalition nationals killed and injured in unique raid in the city of Sousse in Muslim Tunisia

    9 Ramadan 1436 [26 June 2015]

    In a unique raid, for which God facilitated the causes of success, a soldier of the Caliphate, the gallant knight Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani, launched an attack upon the filthy dens where prostitution, vice and disbelief in God are bred in the city of Sousse. In spite of the stringent security protecting these target dens on the al-Qantawi beach, our brother was able to reach the target in the Imperial Hotel. God enabled him to defy the infidels with a great defiance, killing nearly forty and injuring just as many. Most of them were nationals of states of the Crusader coalition that wages war on the state of the Caliphate. This was a painful blow and a message dyed with blood to the apostates in Tunisia and those behind them, their masters in the Crusader alliance. They should brace themselves for good news that will sadden them in the coming days, by the permission of God, for in Muslim Tunisia, there are gallant men who do not sleep on the grievances taught to them by their tours of jihad in Iraq, Syria, Libya and elsewhere. We ask God to accept our brother amongst the ranks of the martyrs, and make from his blood a ray of light to illuminate the path of monotheists everywhere. [END]

    The caption under the photo of Seifeddine Rezgui that is being circulated online reads, The soldier of the Caliphate Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani (may God accept him), the knight who carried out the raid in Muslim Tunisia.

    ISIL on Tunisia hotel attack 2015

     

    Read both visions and narratives for the world, and make up your mind.  Choose the right one, and share it with others! As Muslims, including British Muslims, we need to challenge extremist and murderous rhetoric robustly whenever it appears, dismantling its arguments so that we do not leave a shred of doubt for impressionable people.  May God guide us to help heal humanity’s self-inflicted wounds, and not deepen them further.

    Usama Hasan

    London, 14 Ramadan 1436 / 1 July 2015

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    Open letter to ISIS from UK Muslims

    September 11, 2014

    Bismillah.  – Please add a comment if you would like to add your name to the list of signatories.  Thanks!

    With the Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

    Friday 5th September 2014

    To Mr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,

    Leader of the self-styled and so-called “Islamic State,” being neither Islamic nor a state.

     

    Peace be upon those who follow true guidance.

    We, a group of British Muslims, would like to remind you on this holy day of ours (Friday) that the actions of your group are utterly wrong and evil according to the religion of Islam.

    Your brutal massacres of innocent people (Sunni and Shia Muslims, Christians and Yazidis) and your enslavement of women and children run totally contrary to the Qur’an, which teaches that murder is like genocide (5:32) and that “there is no compulsion in religion,” (2:256) as you must know.

    Your horrific violations of justice are totally anti-Islamic in spirit, betraying the peaceful message of Islam and of the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide, who do not subscribe to your hateful ideology.

    Your group is an affront to the noble and holy name of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who was “a mercy to the worlds” (21:107) and who taught that “All of creation is God’s family, and those most beloved to God are those who are kindest to His creation.”

    We demand that you stop your vile crimes against humanity, disband your group and stop threatening the civilised world that Muslims and non-Muslims, in partnership, have spent centuries building.

    Stop all these monstrosities, and stop carrying them out in the name of God, and in the name of following Islam and the holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and all of God’s messengers.

    We, as British Muslims, are clear that being loyal citizens and contributing fruitfully to society is at the core of our faith.

    We also demand that you stop the psychological grooming of our naïve and vulnerable young men and women into joining your bloodthirsty gangs, destroying their lives and those of their hard-working British families.

    Know that your so-called “Islamic State” is doomed to failure because of its tyrannical nature, and that we, along with the rest of the civilised world, will continue to oppose and resist your madness in every possible way. “Truth has arrived, and falsehood has perished: for falsehood is, by its nature, always bound to perish.” (Qur’an 17:81)

     

    Signed

    1. Sheikh Dr Usama Hasan – Imam, London
    2. Khalid Mahmood MP – Labour Member of Parliament for Perry Barr
    3. Ms. Sughra Ahmed, President, Islamic Society of Britain
    4. Sheikh Dr Hafiz Ather Hussain al-Azhari – Imam, Leicester
    5. Cllr Yakub Hanif al-Naqshbandi – Imam, Luton
    6. Ms. Sara Khan, Co-Director, Inspire
    7. Sheikh Irfan Chishti al-Azhari MBE – Imam, Greater Manchester
    8. Fiyaz Mughal OBE – Director of Tell MAMA (Monitoring Anti-Muslim Attacks)
    9. Mohammed Amin – mohammedamin.com, Manchester
    10. Ms. Kalsoom Bashir, Co-Director, Inspire
    11. Dilwar Hussain, Chair, New Horizons in British Islam
    12. Mohammed Abbasi – Director of the Association of British Muslims
    13. Ms. Khola Hasan, religious scholar, Essex
    14. Haras Rafiq – Co-Founder and former Executive Director Sufi Muslim Council
    15. Sheikh Dr Irfan al-Alawi – Executive Director, Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, Birmingham
    16. Ms. S. Patel MA – Scholar in Near and Middle East Studies, London
    17. Sheikh Osman Saeed Dar al-Azhari, Imam, Greater Manchester
    18. Maajid Nawaz – Chairman of Quilliam and LibDem Parliamentary Candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, London
    19. Mufti Abu Layth, founder of The Islamic Council UK, Birmingham
    20. Syed Mohsin Abbas, Muslim Community Development Network, London
    21. Nadeem Afzal, social worker, Birmingham

     

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    A Good Friday? Protests, Prayers and Peace at the Park – 18 April 2014

    April 20, 2014

    Bismillah. We often go as a family to Regent’s Park Mosque (RPM aka London Central Mosque) for prayers around Easter, since it’s a rare Friday with schools and offices shut, no congestion charge for driving around the city centre and the car parking in the park being at holiday rates: just over half the normal rate at £1.40 per hour rather than £2.40, significant when you wish to stay the whole day.

    Approaching the mosque from inside the park, we noticed several police vans parked around the corner. Unusual, since there are normally only a couple of police officers outside the main entrance of the mosque in Park Rd.

    Being a public holiday, the mosque congregation was much larger than usual, perhaps by 50%. We could only find parking near London Zoo and walked back, past the usual armed officers guarding Winfield House, the US Ambassador’s residence, literally a stone’s throw from the mosque’s rear entrance. On the way, I told my 7-year-old son about the Islamic tradition that spiritual reward earned for travelling to mosque is proportional to the effort required, even measured by the footsteps taken: several hadiths speak of this in a literal commentary on Qur’an (Surat Y.S. 36:12), “We write down their traces: everything have We recorded in a Clear Source.” When a particular tribe in Medina wished to move closer to the Prophet’s Mosque since they walked daily to it five times a day for prayers, he (pbuh) had replied, “Stay in your homes: your footsteps are written in tomes.” (Diyarukum, tuktabu atharukum) Ibn ‘Uthaymin once commented that the equivalent of a footstep for a car or bike was a wheel revolution.

    The mosque was full, so we listened to the sermon after squeezing into the main courtyard, also full, all the way back to the car park: I counted about 40 rows, with about 40 people per row, hence over 1500 males here. The main hall holds at least 2000 males, plus the women’s sections and basement halls were all full, so I estimate at least 5000 worshippers. It’s always nicer to pray in the open air when the weather is nice, as it was on Friday: God’s wonderful dome beats any man-made one, even if it’s golden. As the Prophet (pbuh) said, “The entire earth has been made a place of worship.”

    Islamic tradition demands that worshippers listen to the imam’s Friday sermon in absolute silence, which is why we easily heard the sounds of protesters, who must have been close to the main entrance. The Azhar-trained imam, Sheikh Khalifa Ezzat, had chosen his topics carefully, and probably in response to some of the protests, about which the mosque must have been informed by police: in both Arabic and English, he preached about justice (quoting Ibn al-Qayyim: “God upholds just societies and destroys or allows the self-destruction of unjust ones”) and condemned the evil crimes of sexual grooming gangs, although the latter wasn’t a great topic for a very family-oriented congregation. Listening to an Egyptian imam preaching about just society in a courtyard with one or two thousand people, I thought of Tahrir (Liberation) Square.

    Straining to hear the imam’s soft-spoken voice, even through the loudspeakers, was made more difficult by the loud chants of “E, E, EDL” and rendition of “Jerusalem” (accompanied by music) by William Blake coming from the other side of the main gates. I spotted one leader of a Muslim fascist group in the courtyard, and feared trouble. The irony was that many of us British Muslims would be quite happy to sing “Jerusalem,” although not in mosque, where the ascetic atmosphere is quite rightly one of worship and devotion that transcends even spiritual music and song. Furthermore, Blake is possibly England’s greatest mystical poet (as well as Shakespeare, judging by Martin Lings’ phenomenal book about the latter), and arguably would have felt at home with the Remembrance of God in a beautiful mosque inside one of London’s prettiest Royal Parks. As the Prophet (pbuh) said, “God is beautiful and loves beauty.”

    Prayers after the sermon were also disturbed by chants and another musical score that my teenage son told me later was something called “Hearts of Courage” that he liked from school.

    I have uploaded short video extracts of the sermon accompanied by the sound of protest, here: and here:

    Others have uploaded videos of their protests. Had I been alone, I would have gone over to see the rival protests, but there was potential for serious trouble and we took no chances with our 7-year-old twins. Furthermore, we had come to mosque for inner and outer peace, not for childish, angry protests. Police sirens also disturbed prayers, but their helicopter crew had the courtesy to only bring their noisy flying machine over once prayers were over. The chopper slowly flew above Park Rd later towards Baker St – we learnt afterwards that this to police those marching for a mediaeval Caliphate and Sharia, dutifully protected by Western freedom of expression and the “kufr (infidel) law” that they so despise providing dozens of police to keep the peace at our collective taxpayers’ expense. (The truth is, of course, that Western and Islamic law have the same basis: justice and mercy, so such protests are misplaced.)

    Of the 5000 Muslims at mosque, no more than about 1% joined this march. We are the 99%. Alhamdulillah.

    As ever with Friday prayers at RPM, hundreds of families streamed into the park afterwards. My wife told me about journalists trying to interview worshippers. There were a couple of Orthodox Jewish families also in the park, no doubt fresh from celebrating Passover and enjoying the sunshine before the Sabbath later. I hope they didn’t feel intimidated by the hundreds of Arabs and Muslims – I don’t think they were.

    There were long queues for cake, ice-cream and boating lake tickets. Tulips were in full bloom in a gorgeous array of colours. We saw a heron amongst the ducks and swans, and came across a RSPB stall with birdspotting telescopes (spotting scopes), and got to see two different triplets of baby heron chicks nesting in the trees of the boating lake. We also saw a number of delightful ducklings snuggling up to their Mother Duck. We imagined the excitement of these herons and ducks at their new arrivals, remembering our own when our babies were born. “Every crawling creature in the earth, and every bird flying with its two wings, comprise communities and nations like your human ones. We have not omitted anything from the Record: then, to their Lord, shall they be gathered.” (Qur’an, 6:38)

    We joined the RSPB as a family: they have no fixed fee, only a suggested donation of £5-10 per month: you get a membership pack with gifts and benefits including free entry to their nature reserves around the country. I encourage others to do so also, here: http://www.rspb.org.uk

    After a 3-hour walk around the park, we came across a young, well-intentioned masked Muslim man on a bicycle, wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt. He was from “London Anti-Fascists” and had been riding around in an anti-EDL op, and asked whether we had had any trouble. Nice of him. I should have asked him why LAF don’t take on Muslim fascists who avowedly want a global totalitarian theocracy and to execute any dissident or non-conformist.

    So come on please, EDL-ers and Caliphaters: please stop being at each other’s throats and let’s have civilised interaction rather than offending each others’ sacred symbols, such as by disturbing prayers or abusing the bases of Britishness. And let’s all help with forming trust, mediation and reconciliation, that we may yet build Jerusalem and Medina in England’s green and pleasant land.

    Usama Hasan, https://unity1.wordpress.com

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    BURMESE ROHINGYA ORGANISATION UK (BROUK): Urgent Aid Needed for Rohingya Starving in Their Own Homes

    October 4, 2012

    Bismillah.  Received from BURMESE ROHINGYA ORGANISATION UK (BROUK), London

    Tel: +44 2082 571 143, E-mail: brorg (dot) london (at) gmail (dot) com , web : www.bro-uk.org

    Date: 03/10/2012

     

    Urgent Aid Needed for Rohingya Starving in Their Own Homes

     

    A new crisis is emerging in Arakan State, Burma, where up to 700,000 Rohingya are trapped in
    their homes and villages, unable to go out and buy food or farm because of ongoing attacks and
    threats against them. BROUK is already receiving reports of babies are dying from malnutrition.
    While international attention has focused on up to 100,000 Rohingya in camps for internally
    displaced people, who are now receiving regular aid, hundreds of thousands more Rohingya in
    areas not visited by aid workers and international observers are starving in their own homes.

    It has been almost 4 months the violence erupted in Arakan State, Burma, and since then local
    Rohingya people describe being under effective siege by government forces and local Rakhine
    communities. Constant human rights abuses committed against Rohingya make it unsafe for them
    to leave their homes to get food.

    BROUK has received the following information from the ground about abuses committed in the
    past week, which give an indication of the type of abuses forcing people to stay at home:

    1. Two Rohingya were killed in Sittwe while they went to buy food from Central Market.

     

    2. No Rohingyas can go to school, hospitals, or markets most of the towns of Arakan State.
    Several people who tried to go out were beaten and killed.

     

    3. Many Rohingyas were arrested in Maungdaw Township. Those who were arrested have
    disappeared.

     

    4. Around 3000 Rakhine armed with weapons, together with Rakhine Monks, gathered and
    surrounded Rohingya areas for hours in an attempt to recreate violence against the
    Rohingyas in Sittwe. They demanded all Rohingyas to come out of their houses or they
    would kill each and every Rohingya in the area.

     

    5. 3 Rohingya boys were shot by government authorities while they were watching their
    cattle in the pasture between paddy field and forest nearby the village in Pauktaw
    Township.

     

    6. In Pauktaw Township many babies have died because of malnutrition. Adults are also
    reported to be starving.

     

    7. Rohingya face a boycott in many areas with local Rakhine shopkeepers refusing to sell
    them food.

     

    8. Prison and security forces in Buthidaung jail are cutting off or burning the penises of
    Rohingyas, forcing them to have homosexual sex with one another, cutting off or pulling
    out their finger nails, severely beating them, keeping them naked all the time, keeping
    them without food and water for days. When they are given foods once in many days, it
    is on the ground with their hands tied at their backs. Authorities in the jail force them
    through immense torture to confess that they are animals and that’s why they have to eat
    like animals.

     

    9. The bound and dead body of a Rohingya man was found in Sanpya village of Sittwe.

     

    10. More than 10 Rohingyas were robbed and beaten, receiving serious injuries, by police
    and security forces while they tried to travel from Alay Than Kyaw village to another
    village in Maungdaw.

     

    11. Those with bullet injuries and disease are in acute mental and physical pain without any
    medical care and treatment.

     

    BROUK President Tun Khin said: “President Thein Sein has already publicly stated that he wants
    to ethnically cleanse all Rohingya out of Burma, even asking for international help to do so. He is
    already implementing this policy, using starvation instead of bullets to kill Rohingya men,
    women and children.”

     

    “Hilary Clinton, David Cameron, Ban Ki-moon and others are praising Thein Sein at the same
    time as he is killing our people. They should be insisting to end the starvation siege against
    Rohingya, and allows in international aid all effected areas in Arakan. They should also be
    working at the UN General Assembly for a UN Commission of Inquiry into what is taking place.”

    For more information contact Tun Khin on +44 (0)7888714866.

     

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    European Parliament Resolution on Persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma

    September 14, 2012

    Bismillah. Received from Burma Campaign UK.
    —

    Persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma

    PE493.587

    European Parliament resolution of 13 September 2012 on the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma/Myanmar (2012/2784(RSP))

    The European Parliament,

    – having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma/Myanmar, and in particular that of 20 April 2012[1],

    – having regard to the progress report of 7 March 2012 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,

    – having regard to the Council conclusions of 23 April 2012 on Burma/Myanmar,

    – having regard to the statement of 13 June 2012 by the spokesperson of High Representative Catherine Ashton on the crisis in northern Rakhine State in Burma/Myanmar,

    – having regard to the exchange of views on the Rohingya issue which took place in its Subcommittee on Human Rights on 11 July 2012,

    – having regard to the statement of 9 August 2012 by Commissioner Georgieva on humanitarian access to the Rohingya and other affected communities,

    – having regard to the statement of 17 August 2012 by the ASEAN foreign ministers on the recent developments in Rakhine State,

    – having regard to the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951 and the protocol thereto of 1967,

    – having regard to Articles 18 to 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948,

    – having regard to Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966,

    – having regard to the decisions allowing Burma/Myanmar to host the Southeast Asian Games in 2013 and to chair ASEAN in 2014,

    – having regard to Rules 122(5) and 110(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

    A. whereas since the new government of President Thein Sein took office in March 2011, it has taken numerous steps to expand civil liberties in the country, the majority of political prisoners have been released, with a number being elected to the Parliament in byelections, preliminary ceasefires have come into force with most armed ethnic groups, and many political dissidents have returned from exile in the hope of reconciliation;

    B. whereas, however, discrimination against the Rohingya minority has intensified;

    C. whereas on 28 May 2012 the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman set off a chain of deadly clashes between the majority Rakhine Buddhist population and the minority Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State;

    D. whereas in the following days communal violence spread between the two communities, disproportionately involving Rakhine mobs and security forces targeting Rohingya, leaving dozens of people dead, thousands of homes destroyed and over 70 000 people internally displaced; whereas on 10 June 2012 a state of emergency was declared in six townships of Rakhine State;

    E. whereas President Thein Sein had initially expressed the view that the only solution for the Rohingya was either to send them to refugee camps with UNHCR support or to resettle them in other countries;

    F. whereas the Rohingya, many of whom have been settled in Rakhine State for centuries, have not been recognised as one of Burma/Myanmar’s 135 national groups, and have thus been denied citizenship rights under the 1982 Citizenship Law, are perceived by many Burmese to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and have been subject to systematic and severe discrimination, including restrictions in areas such as freedom of movement, marriage, education, healthcare and employment, as well as land confiscation, forced labour, arbitrary arrest and harassment by the authorities;

    G. whereas in the face of persistent persecution an estimated 1 million Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring countries over the years; whereas 300 000 have fled to Bangladesh alone, in which country their long-term situation remains unresolved, while the Bangladeshi authorities have recently instructed the international humanitarian NGOs which provide basic heath and nutrition services to unregistered refugees as well as to the local population in Cox’s Bazar district to suspend their activities, and are now reportedly pushing Rohingya asylum seekers back;

    H. whereas the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) has allocated EUR 10 million to support for Rohingya refugees and the local host population in Bangladesh in 2012;

    I. whereas on 17 August 2012 the Burmese government appointed an independent Investigation Commission, consisting of 27 representatives of civil society and political and religious organisations, to inquire into the causes of the outbreak of sectarian violence and make suggestions;

    1. Is alarmed at the continuing ethnic violence in western Burma, which has caused large numbers of deaths and injuries, destruction of property and displacement of local populations, and expresses its concern that these intercommunal clashes may put at risk the transition to democracy in Burma/Myanmar;

    2. Calls on all parties to exercise restraint, and urges the Burmese authorities to stop arbitrary arrests of Rohingya, to provide information on the whereabouts of the hundreds of people detained since security operations in Rakhine State began in June 2012, and to immediately release those arbitrarily arrested;

    3. Calls on the government of Burma/Myanmar, as a matter of urgency, to allow the UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs, as well as journalists and diplomats, unhindered access to all areas of Rakhine State, guarantee unrestricted access to humanitarian aid for all affected populations, and ensure that displaced Rohingya enjoy freedom of movement and are permitted to return to their place of residence once it is safe for them to do so;

    4. Welcomes the creation of the independent Investigation Commission, but regrets the absence of a Rohingya representative;

    5. Calls on the government of Burma/Myanmar to bring the perpetrators of the violent clashes and other related abuses in Rakhine State to justice, and to rein in the extremist groups who are instigating communal hatred, propagating threats against humanitarian and international agencies, and advocating expulsion or permanent segregation of the two communities;

    6. Calls on the EEAS to support the Burmese government by all possible means in its efforts to stabilise the situation, implement programmes promoting reconciliation, design a broader socio-economic development plan for Rakhine State, and continue Burma/Myanmar’s progress towards democracy;

    7. Expresses its appreciation for those Burmese citizens who have raised their voice in support of the Muslim minority and a pluralist society, and calls on the political forces to take a clear stand in that sense; believes that an inclusive dialogue with local communities could be an important element in terms of attenuating the numerous ethnic problems in Burma/Myanmar;

    8. Insists that the Rohingya minority cannot be left out of the newly developing openness for a multicultural Burma/Myanmar, and calls on the government to amend the 1982 citizenship law so as to bring it into line with international human rights standards and its obligations under Article 7 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, with a view to granting citizens’ rights to the Rohingya and other stateless minorities, as well as ensuring equal treatment for all Burmese citizens, thus ending discriminatory practices;

    9. Is concerned at the arrest of 14 international aid workers during the unrest, and calls for the immediate release of the five who are still in prison;

    10. Urges the Burmese government to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country to conduct an independent investigation into the abuses in Rakhine State; calls on the OHCHR to establish an office in Burma/Myanmar with a full protection, promotion, and technical assistance mandate, as well as sub-offices in states around the country, including Rakhine State;

    11. Encourages the Burmese government to continue implementing its democratic reforms, to establish the rule of law, and to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression and assembly (including on the internet);

    12. Urges all countries in the region to come to the aid of refugees from Burma/Myanmar and to support the Burmese government in finding equitable solutions for the underlying causes;

    13. Urges Bangladesh, in particular, to continue its acceptance of present donor support and any additional support measures, and to allow the humanitarian aid organisations to continue their work in the country, especially in the light of the events in Rakhine State and the resultant additional flows of refugees in dire need of basic care;

    14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Governments and Parliaments of Burma/Myanmar and of Bangladesh, the EU High Representative, the Commission, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the UN Special Representative for Human Rights in Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the UN Human Rights Council.

    [1] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0142.

    Usama Hasan, https://unity1.wordpress.com

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