Page 1 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 Issue 18 Vol. XXII, No. 27 in this issue Letters to the Editor............................... 2 Islamic World News School Closings ..................................... 3 Latinos Embrace Islam................................ 3 Islam in History Muslims in Anti-Bellum South..................... 5 How I embraced Islam Twelve Hours Muslim............................. 6 Do You Need Insurance?.......................... 7 The Deal of the Lifetime. ......................... 8 Letter From Shaytan (Devil)..................... 9 Du’Ah by the Prophet (pbuh) in Taif.......... 9 Judgement Day Airlines ...........................10 On Death and Dying. .............................10 Islamic Will and Testament.......................7 Women in Islam - My Body is my Own Business. ....15 Cook’s Corner.......................................15 Rapp Artist Embracing Islam..................... 16 Wisdom and the Prophet (pbuh).................... 17 Stories of the Sahaba - Al-Husayn Ibn Psyllium. . 18 Islamic Diet and Manners - Black Seeds....19 Kid’s Corner. .........................................20 Quran and Science - The Origin of Man..20 The Islamic Bulletin Published by the Islamic Community of Northern California A Non-Profit Corporation P.O. Box 410186 San Francisco, CA 94141-0186 E-Mail: info@islamicbulletin.org Website: http://www.islamicbulletin.org As-Salaamu-alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu! Welcome to The Islamic Bulletin Web Site. In addition to publishing The Islamic Bulletin, in hard copy, we are very pleased to announce that we are now available electronically! Although the website is currently under construction, we expect to have all the previous issues fully operational in a short time. You will be able to bring to Muslims and non-Muslims alike a comprehensive site to explore Islam. We have provided links to the Holy Quran in Arabic, Albanian, Chinese, French, Dutch, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, Spanish, Swahili, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Many with audio! This is, Insha’Allah, a “one-stop” site for everything you wanted to know about Islam. You can: • Listen and read the Quran online; • Research hadith collections such as Bukhari, Muslim, and others; • Check daily prayer schedules; • Listen to a live radio station from Mecca; • Watch videos about Islam (See section on “How to Become Muslim”); • View or download “The Sealed Nectar”, a biography of the Prophet (pbuh); • Learn “How To Become Muslim” in Spanish or English; • Find prayer locations around the world; • Read activities and stories for children; • View The Islamic Bulletin’s past and present issues; • etc. InshAllah, soon you will be able to download: an Islamic Last Will, the Mosques (Masjids) in California, with driving directions. We hope that the locations and directions of the various Masjids will assist our fellow Muslims in maintaining their salaat/prayer times and responsibilities. Plus much more! Living in this country we have problems of all sorts and dimensions. These problems are as diverse as each of us. We are a community drawn from almost every corner of the Earth. We have different cultural backgrounds and languages. We have different ethnic and family backgrounds. Despite all that, we have a desire to practice Islam in its truest sense and live peacefully. We also hope, through the web, to create a sense of togetherness, introduce individuals to each other for their support or suggestions and, at the same time, link community organizations together for the benefit of all. The development of The Islamic Bulletin and this site is the result of many dedicated people who have volunteered their time and efforts to help spread the truth of Islam. The amount of work involved in publishing such a magazine is tremendous. It is only possible when we have the support, encouragement, and co-operation from the Muslim community. We have tried to make the site ‘user friendly’ with few graphics to enable easy viewing and quick loading for those with less sophisticated systems. We would like to acknowledge in particular the following people: Khawar Chaudhry and Babar from Hizone for hosting us and setting up the site. Ali Tassavor was dedicated and patient during the many changes we worked through. AbdelKader Guettatfi, Shohreh Doustani, Colette Andrews, Sabah ElTareb, Fawzia El Tareb, Mohamed Baarmah, Nasira Abdul-Aleem, Izayda Molina, Judith Thomas, Pamela Consul, and Joveria for their invaluable input. Please bookmark our website, share it with others, and visit us often, and feel free to contact us at: info@islamicbulletin.org As-Salaamu-alaykum. The Editor
Page 2 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 Dear Editor: Not long ago, I heard some interesting things aboutblackseeds. Iheardthat theProphet (pbuh) advised people to eat them. Can you provide more informationabout them? I amalsoworried that my relatives will not be able to bury me Islamically as they are non-Muslims. What should I do toprepare for this?Thankyou. Salaams, Layla Barrett Liberty Lake, Washington Response: Assalamu Aleikum Layla, Let me answer your letter with an amazing story about the black seeds. Oneday,my friendSteve Simon, anEnglish teacher at CityCollegeof San Francisco, looking rather sad, came to see me. I asked him why he was sad. He said, “I am taking a trip around the world.” I told him he should be happy, but then he said that the doctor had just given him six months to live. I toldhimhewas luckybecausehe knewwhenhewouldbe going and so would have time to prepare. He told me that he didn’t want to talk about religion as he didn’t believe in anything nor in the hereafter. He was Jewish but never believed in anything. I told him, “Steve, how about this...suppose you believe, and then you find out that there is no life in the hereafter...what have you lost?” He remained quiet. Then I said, “But what if you find out that there is a life in the hereafter.... isn’t it better to be prepared? He said, “No, no, you are trying to confuse me.” Then, I told him about blackseeds and Zamzam water. He agreed to try them, saying, “I have nothing to lose.” About a year later, I was surprised to seehimagainandhe toldme that his doctors didn’t know why he was still alive. He didn’t know if my ‘blackseeds and zamzam’ really did something or if it was the psychology of it. Then he said that he wanted to read about Islam...not to convert or anything...but that maybe he had missed something in his life since, whenever he saw anything about Islam, his mind would block it. I gave himaQur’anandalsoMohamedAsad’s TheRoad toMecca.Hewas still taking the ‘medicine’ when I saw him a year later and he was still alive! Now, interestingly enough, I saw him walking down the street wearing a tope (Muslim white hat)! I said, “Hey Steve! What happened? You became Muslim?” He said, “Well, I’m reading the Qur’an and it helps put me in the mood.” Shortly after that, he came to my office while I was on a trip to Yemen and asked the secretary to tell me to bring back some Blackseed Oil for him because he had run out of it. I brought back the oil for him, but, when I returned, he had just passed away. His sister said he kept reading a green Qur’an right up to the end. May Allah bless his soul. Editors Note: Please see Page 10 for our article on Death & Dying and Pages 11--14 for a simplified Islamic Last Will and Testament. On Page 19, you will find our article on Black Seeds. We hope you will benefit from our modest efforts. Letters To The Editor Dear Editor: As-salaamu alaikum I pray that this letter finds you in Allah’s special grace and care. I am writing you with the hopes that you will print the enclosed article that I have written, entitled: The Deal of a Lifetime. I have been a student of Al-Islam for five years now and I would like to contribute in Allah’s cause by assisting in the realm of Da’wah. May Allah reward you and your staff for your active service in His cause. As-Salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Sincerely, Aquil Abdul Baseer Ione, California Editor’s Note: Please see brother Aquil’s excellent article on Pages 7-9. May Allah accept all his efforts and hope you will benefit from this article. Dear Editor: As-Salamu Alaikum! First of all, I want to tell youhowmuch I enjoy your newsletter. Not only do I find it interesting, but also very informative. Because I have learned somuch fromyournewsletter, Iwouldliketoshareanexperienceofmyownwithyour readers in the hope that theymight get inspiration and hope frommy story. I recentlygavebirth toahealthybabygirl,Al-Hamduli-Lah (Thanks toGod). Throughoutmypregnancy,mybabywas inthebreech(sitting)position.The doctors informed me that my baby was not in a correct position, but my doctor did not seem concerned. She kept saying that the baby had plenty of time to move to its correct position. However, when I got close to my due date, my baby still had not turned. My husband kept tellingme to put all of my faith in Allah, that Allah would take care of me. Whenmy due date arrived, the baby still had not turned. In fact, twoweeks later, Istillhadnotgoneintolabornorhadmybabyturned.Mydoctorreferred us to a doctor who specialized in turning babies by pushing themaround in thewomb. This doctor said that she could turn the baby, but that wewould have to sign a release formbecause sometimes the baby’s back or neck got brokenwhenpushing them, andthat thebabycouldbebornparaplegic!My husband and I both agreed that we could never take such a risk, so I went into the hospital to have a Cesarean Section. The doctor’s were preparing me for a C-Section when my husband decided to ask Allah Ta’ala to help. My husband made two Raka’a and offered the “Taif Du’a” to Allah. Miraculously, my baby did a 180-degree turn! I did not have to have the operation! , and I deliveredmy baby within one hour. Al-Hamduli-Lahi Rabbil-’Aalameen! My husband reminded me that there is a hadith Qudsi that says that Allah Ta’ala says that He is according to what His servant expects of Him, so keep your expectations high. I think it means that He, Allah, responds our faith according to our expectations. I would like to share this beautiful and powerful (by the Will of Allah) Du’a (supplication) with you, by the prophetMohammed (pbuh) in Taif. At that time, Rasulu-Lah (pbuh) prayed to Allah, our Lord, saying: “Oh, my Allah! To Thee I complain of the feebleness of my strength, of my lack of resources and of my being unimportant in the eyes of people. Oh, Most Merciful of all those capable of showing mercy! Thou art the Lord of the weak, and Thou art my own Lord. To whom art Thou to entrust me; to an unsympathetic folk who would sullenly frown at me, or to an alien to whomThou hast given control over my affairs? Not in the least do I care for anything except that I may have Thy protection for myself. I seek shelter in Your light - The light that illuminates the Heavens and dispels all sorts of darkness, and which controls all affairs in thiswork aswell as in theHereafter.May it never be that I should incur Thy wrath, or that Thou should be displeased with me. I must remove the cause of Thy displeasure until Thou art pleased. There is no strength nor power but through Thee.” Fawzia El Tareb, Daly City, California Editor’sNote:TrytomemorizetheaboveDu’a(inArabic) ifpossibleonPage9. Need to contact us? Web Address: www.islamicbulletin.org E-Mail: info@islamicbulletin.org Editor, Islamic Bulletin P.O. Box 410186 San Francisco, CA 94141-0186, USA
Page 3 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 By Monique El-Faizy andMichele Comandini A decision by Paterson (CA) school district officials to recognize the two major Islamic holidays is the first of its kind in the country, community leaders say, and reflects the growing influence of Muslims in America. Paterson’s schools will close next year for the two most important Muslim holidays -- Eid al-Fitr on Jan. 7, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha on March 17, which commemorates the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael at God’s command. “We have a growing Muslim presence in Paterson, and this was a way to recognize that,” said school board President William McKoy. “It’s important in celebrating our diversity that we also have an understanding of holidays.” “On the district level, that is the first time in the United States,” said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Council on Islamic Education, based in Fountain Valley, Calif. “This is welcome news to the 6 [million] to 8 million Muslims in the United States. It also sends a signal to the rest of the United States.” Paterson’s Muslim groups also praised the decision, saying it was “long overdue.” “We have a large number of Muslims in the school system and we should be entitled to our holidays as well as others’ holidays,” said Riad Mustafa, president of the Islamic Center of Passaic County (California). “It shows how great we are in this country that we can accommodate everyone’s religious beliefs.” McKoy said the Paterson district also will begin to incorporate the meaning of holidays in its curriculum so that “students can celebrate with more purpose rather than just having a day off.” The district recognizes Jewish and Christian religious holidays as well as Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. District officials said Eid al-Fitr was included as a holiday this school year, but the holiday fell on Jan. 18, which was also the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. The second Muslim holiday was added last week after the board was approached by parents, students, and members of the Arab and Muslim communities. New Jersey law allows students to be excused from school during religious holidays recognized by the state. Eid al-Fitr is one of those holidays, so students are allowed to take the day off in other districts. IbrahimHooper, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that has been a struggle in other states. “Our main goal in this area has been to have Muslim students allowed to go to Eid without being marked absent,” he said. Paterson’s decision is the latest in a series of steps toward recognizing the rights of Muslims in schools and workplaces, something the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has worked hard for. “I think that Muslims are finally coming on people’s radar screens, both the general public and officials, and these kinds of things are beginning to be addressed,” Hooper said. Hooper said the council has received thousands of requests for its educators’ guide to Islamic practices, which was released in late 1997, and has sent out 20,000 copies of a similar guide for employers. Opportunity Commission is handling many more complaints from Muslims, and an increasing number of disputes are being resolved in their favor. Most recently, seven Dulles International Airport workers won the right to wear head scarves to work in conformance with Muslim tradition, and in March a federal appeals court ruled that two Newark police officers had the right to wear beards for religious reasons. Latinos Embrace Islam By Margaret Rameriz, Times Religion Writer Slipped inside a strip mall across from Exposition Park where the smell of incense mingles with Arabic swirls on the wall, Muhammad Gomez absorbs the message of Allah. Sitting beside him in this storefront Islamic center, Domy Garcia raises her hand and asks why she and other Muslim women are obliged to cover their heads with the hijab. Mariam Montalvo takes diligent notes at the Sunday afternoon Islamic lesson with the holy Qur’an by her side. Here at the ILM Foundation, a new Islamic movement is being born. Yet it lies far from Mecca, where the faith was founded more than 1,400 years ago. And the language of choice for this group of Islamic followers is not Arabic. These Muslims worship Allah in Spanish. Montalvo, who immigrated to Los Angeles from Mexico in 1996, left the Catholic faith three months ago, frustrated by what she called contradictions within church teachings and preoccupation with the saints. After research and contemplation, she took the Shahada, the simple declaration of faith by which one becomes a Muslim. “I had a lot of problems with the church. One Bible says one thing, and another Bible says something different. Then there are people who call themselves Catholics and drink and smoke,” said Montalvo, 21. “With Islam, it was so pure. I found there were no intermediaries. Everything goes straight to God.” Last month, 30 Southern California converts founded the Latino-MuslimMovement with the intent of educating Spanish-speaking Muslims and spreading Islam to other Latinos. After meeting for the past seven years, the group appointed officers and elected to meet at the ILM Foundation once a week. Scores of Latinos throughout the country--specifically in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Miami--have fled the church of their birth and embraced Islam as their newfound faith. In New York, a group of Puerto Rican Muslims opened an Islamic center in the heart of East Harlem called Alianza Islamica, where hundreds of Latinos have converted since 1992. The center, the first of its kind, includes a small mosque where the Friday sermon is heard in Arabic, English, and Spanish. Islam has adherents throughout Latin America and the Caribbean as well, with especially strong followings in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Panama. Reymundo Nur, a Panamanian who became Muslim at the age of 12 and studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, helped organize the Los Angeles group. Two years ago, Nur co-founded a national nonprofit organization called Asociacion Latina de Musulmanes en las Americas, which focuses on translating Islamic books and literature into Spanish. He said one of his group’s main projects is translating the Qur’an into contemporary, conversational Spanish. At least two Spanish translations of the Qur’an exist, but Nur said they use a more formal, Castilian Spanish. “There have always been Latino Muslims. It’s only now that they’re coming to the forefront,” said Nur, vice president of the Latino-MuslimMovement in Los Angeles. “We have a strong Islamic legacy, and people are rediscovering that part of their heritage. Many learn about it and say, ‘Hey, I have more of this in me than I ever realized.’ “Islamic ties to Hispanic culture date back to 711, when the Muslim general Tariq ibn Zayid conquered Spain, and the Christian Visigothic domination of Roderick came to an end. Under Moorish rule, Christians, Jews, and Muslims coexisted in Spain. Conversion was encouraged but never forced. Because the Arabs did not bring women with them, they took Spanish wives, and within a few generations the Muslim population was more Spanish than Arab. For the next 700 years, Al-Andalus, as the Muslims refer to Spain, enjoyed an era of political and cultural splendor, becoming one of the most intellectually advanced countries in medieval Europe. Islamic influence penetrated almost every facet of Spanish life, especially music, architecture, and literature. Eid School Closings -- A Milestone for Muslims
Page 4 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 But, gradually, Christian armies advanced. After the fall of the last Moorish stronghold in Granada in 1492, the cross replaced the crescent on Spain’s minarets and Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity or be exiled. Many Latino Muslims in Los Angeles see their conversion as a return to their Moorish roots. Today, Southern California has the third-largest concentration of Muslims in the country, including 58 mosques and Islamic centers in Los Angeles County. “In Catholicism, there are just so many ways to go. Why am I going to pray to the saints?” she added. “When we find Islam, we don’t have to waste energy. It’s like if I call the operator to get a number, I waste energy. But with Islam, I have the number. I get connected directly to God.” Along with the formation of more Latino Muslim organizations, conversion stories have begun burning up the Internet. Ali Al-Mexicano, a 25-year-old Pomona computer technician, created his own World Wide Web page account of how he became Muslim that includes the first time he read the Qur’an. “It was so clear and written in a simple, understanding way,” he said. “It just hit me. This has to be the truth.” Though Al-Mexicano family accepted his conversion, several other young Latinos who have begun searching outside the traditional confines of Catholicism have found conversion to be a heart-wrenching affair, often tearing families apart. “We have a strong Islamic legacy...people are rediscovering that part of their heritage.” Islam penetrated almost every facet of Spanish life...music, architecture, literature.” Domy Garcia said her family in Mexico was confused and upset by her decision to leave the church. The Buena Park mother converted to Islam two years ago after rejecting the religion she said was forced on her Mexican ancestors. Undeterred by her family’s reaction, Garcia said her main concern now is raising her children as Muslims and introducing more Latinos to Islam. “My family just would not accept it. They said, ‘What happened? You’ve changed so much,’” she recalled. “But it’s all right, because on Judgment Day, my family won’t be able to help. It will be God.” The Latino-Muslim Movement meets every Sunday afternoon for discussions at the ILM Foundation, a community center managed by Saadiq Saafir, a prominent African American prayer leader, or imam. About 2 p.m., Elizabeth Chawki, a Native American who is fluent in Spanish, usually begins the sessions, which have focused on women, preparation of food, marriage and Islamic divorce. Despite the perception that all Muslims are Arab, Chawki said, converts see the distinction between religion and ethnicity. “This is about pure religion, not culture. We still eat our tamales and frijoles,” said Chawki, referring to some Latino dishes served after the discussions. Gomez, a native of Nicaragua with no prior religious affiliations, said it was after reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” that he began to explore Islam. Like several other converts, Gomez spoke with resentment about the Catholic Church’s involvement in Latin America. “Viewing Jesus as a prophet and a political leader, and not a God, made more sense to me,” he said. The Latino-MuslimMovement also aims to bring together Muslims regardless of race. At a recent meeting, Saafir reflected on the emerging phenomenon of Latino conversions as similar to the time when African Americans began accepting Islam 50 years ago. In allowing the group to use the Islamic center, Saafir hopes to tear down the barriers that divide blacks and Latinos. “We all realize that we’re Muslim first,” Saafir said. “This religion is going to bring us together.” Nur nodded. “Inshallah,” he whispered. court suPPorts musLim inmates -- Prisoners have right to attend Prayer services By Denny Walsh SACRAMENTO - Every Muslim prisoner in California has the right to attend traditional prayer services, a federal judge ruled Friday. Freedom of religion doesn’t end at the prison gate, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton made clear in a blistering 15-page order in which he held the state Department of Corrections in contempt. Karlton demanded that the agency ensure that every Muslim inmate in California - an estimated 10,000 to 11,000 - be permitted to attend Jumu’ah prayer services at midday Fridays. He gave a 15-day deadline for submittal of a plan to permit inmate access to the congregational services that are part of the Five Pillars defining Muslim religious practice. Karlton’s order comes in a 1995 case in which Ernest Fenelon, a California Medical Facility inmate, sued for the right to attend the Jumu’ah services, generally held between noon and 1 p.m. The services of no other religion were at issue. Corrections officials contend that regulations preclude prisoners from leaving their jobs to attend “routine” weekly religious services. Making an exception for Jumu’ah services, they insist, would disrupt the work program, require a regulation change, “cause problems with security and prison operations” at prisons statewide. At Jumu’ah services, the “imam” - or leader - preaches a sermon before the praying begins. During prayer, the imam recites all the words and the worshipers silently follow him in his motions - for example, standing erect, bowing and pressing their foreheads on the ground. Friday’s action was the culmination of a series of rulings on the matter in favor of worship. In February, Karlton sided with Fenelon and issued a preliminary injunction, but his ruling was implemented only to permit such religious freedom to Fenelon - not to all Muslim inmates. At a June hearing, Deputy Attorney General Bernice Louie Yew told Karlton this was because his injunction was “not clear with respect to other prisoners.” “It is only my good sense that keeps me from putting you and your clients in jail and let you see what it feels like,” Karlton fumed. “Your duty is not to cut the salami so thin that you can see through it.” In Friday’s order, Karlton assured the Corrections Department it will face sanctions by the court if it fails to submit a plan accommodating all Muslim prisoners. Department spokeswoman Kati Corsaut said the agency “fully intends to comply with the order.” “We’re talking about the most basic of human rights,” said attorney Steven Burlingham, representing Fenelon. “They want to use their lunch hour to pray. Yet, we have been in court for four years. “It’s ridiculous to spend taxpayers’ money to fight this. There are lots better uses for the state’s resources. We’re not asking for television sets or a golf course. We want an hour to worship God.” In his motion for contempt, Burlingham claimed that, after Karlton issued his preliminary injunction in February, prison officials “took steps to retaliate against (Fenelon).” However, the judge found that three incidents cited in the motion do not prove retaliation. He adopted the recommendations of U.S. Magistrate Judge John Moulds. Quoting appellate case law, Moulds said the First Amendment requires that prisoners be afforded “a reasonable opportunity to worship in accordance with their conscience.” The U.S. Supreme Court found in 1987 that “Jumu’ah is commanded by the Koran and must be held every Friday after the sun reaches its zenith and before the ‘Asr,’ or afternoon prayer,” Moulds pointed out. “There is no question that (Muslim prisoners’) sincerely held religious beliefs compel attendance at Jumu’ah,” the high court said.
Page 5 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 Muslims in the Anti-Bellum South Job Ben Solomon Jallo was kidnapped from his home in Africa and ended up in America in 1730. He was sold into slavery and became increasingly angry with such a station in life. In a biography written about him, Job said his unhappiness led to much praying, and that once, when he prostrated himself in prayer in public, as was his religious custom, a boy threw mud in his face. Not only was he unhappy with his treatment, he was also dismayed that he had no place to pray five times a day, as was the custom of the Muslim faith that he brought with him from Africa. So, he ran away from Maryland to Pennsylvania. There, he was imprisoned for lack of documents showing he was either free or indentured and was eventually returned to his master. Upon his return, his master was told that Job Ben Solomon wanted to be treated better and wanted a place to pray. He got both. But he was not content to remain a slave. He wrote his father in Africa a letter in Arabic asking for help. James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia, became aware of the letter and helped secure a bond for Job’s release from his master. Job was later sent to England with the Royal African Co., his new owners, and was introduced to a number of wealthy Englishmen who eventually paid for him and set him free. These same friends paid for his return to Gambia. Job Ben Solomon’s story and dozens of others like his are told in “African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transatlantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles,” by Springfield College (Springfield, Mass.) professor Allan D. Austin. It’s a condensation and updating and unfolds the lives of more than 80 African Muslims who were slaves in America between 1730 and 1860. They came from Nigeria, Gambia, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mali and other surrounding countries, where many of them had been political, religious, commercial, or military leaders. They were valuable as slaves because of their intelligence and skills. Some were able to return to Africa, while others, like Bilali Mohammed on Sapelo Island, became leaders on plantations. Austin, a noted scholar of antebellum black writing and history, visited Savannah recently and gave a lecture on his book at the Beach Institute. As a professor of Afro-American Studies, Austin said he knew therewere a number of slaves who were Muslims because of his research of the antebellum writings of blacks. So, he planned an essay on the subject. But his essay grew into a 700-plus page book as he discovered much more information about the slaves who were Muslim. Wealth of Information The data Austin gathered provides a realistic portrayal of Africans, contrary to the portrayal they were given by white writers of the day. It is not yet possible to tell how many Muslims were taken out of Africa during the era of international slave trade, Austin contends. But by looking at available records, he estimates that between 5 and 10 percent of all slaves taken from Senegal and the Bight of Benin were Muslims. Half of all Africans sent to North America came from this region, Austin said. “If the total number of arrivals were 11 million, as scholars have concluded, then there may have been about 40,000 African Muslims in the colonial and pre-Civil War territory making up the United States before 1860.” Job Ben Solomon was typical of the Muslims who found themselves in the South. Their spirituality, manners, sense of dignity and intelligence impressed slave owners and others. Some erroneously thought these slaves had received these gifts from their masters. Not so, Austin said. A memoir of Job Ben Solomon’s life was later published in 1734 by lawyer Thomas Bluett. “It was a very dignified statement about an African who did not find America, its Christianity, its modernization all that wonderful, and wanted to return to Africa,” Austin said. “He struggled with his master to get the right to pray publicly and to not have to do the field work his master wanted him to do. He was in prison temporarily and started writing on the walls in Arabic. Somebody recognized that here was a man who had principles and they eventually realized this man was a Muslim. He was literate in Africa, he knew the Koran by heart, he was literate in Arabic.” The Strength of Their Faith Austin also wrote about other slaves who also didn’t give up their Muslim faith. For instance, around 1831, one Muslim slave, Umar ibin Said, wrote an autobiography thought lost until 1995. According to his writings, he was originally from Senegal. He was purchased in the early 1800s by a slave owner who recognized his intelligence and didn’t put him in the fields. He wrote nearly 22 manuscripts in Arabic, among them the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm. Said did not deny Islam, but “added Christian prayers to his spiritual stock, not an uncommon practice for religious Muslims among Christians,” Austin writes in his book. In another case, “by the time you get to the turn of the century, around 1800, there are a number of people, Bilali Mohammed and Salih Bilali, who set up their own Muslim communities on Sapelo and St. Simons Island,” Austin said. Imam Maajid Ali, leader of the Masjid Jihad mosque in Savannah, explained why Muslim slaves would adopt the Christianity often forced upon them. “If we are forced to assimilate another faith, other ideas, another concept of God, we are allowed to verbalize that, as long as we don’t give our heart to that particular position,” Ali said. But how did Austin’s subjects, in the face of such oppression as slavery in America, maintain their faith with such urgency? “In Islam we don’t have that division between secular and sacred, which means that Islam is really a total way of life,” said the Imam. “Those individuals who were Muslim and also brought here for slave labor, I could very well understand why it was that they insisted upon the practice of certain tenets in the religion such as the prayer five times daily, (refusing to do certain) types of labor. “In Islamwe have the belief that all people, men and women, are the slaves of God, therefore, no human being can be the slave of another human being. That would be one of the driving forces in the Muslim’s life, so I could see how they would have rejected the common status of servitude that was accepted by other non-Muslim slaves.” A Muslim in servitude would never really accept being shackled and his or her behavior could be interpreted by other slaves or the slave-master as being insubordinate, Ali said. “He or she wasn’t rebelling against the person or the institution, as much as living his or her religion. If that conflict came up between religion and institution, they would choose their religion in defiance of the forced institution of slavery.” So the men Austin wrote about were moved by the dictates of their faith, not out of fear of losing some eternal reward, Ali said. Even on the issue of not eating pork, the Koran makes allowances, stipulating that if a Muslim is dying of starvation, he or she can eat enough pork to survive the threat of death. Islam in History
Page 6 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 Twelve Hours Muslim “What am I doing down here?” I wonder, my nose and forehead pressed to the floor as I kneel in prayer. My knee-caps ache, my arm muscles strain as I try to keep the pressure off my forehead. I listen to strange utterings of the person praying next to me. It’s Arabic, and they understand what they are saying, even if I don’t. So, I make up my own words, hoping God will be kind to me, a Muslim only twelve hours old. “God, I converted to Islam because I believe in you, and because Islam makes sense to me.” Did I really just say that? I quietly burst into tears. What would my friends say if they saw me like this, kneeling, nose pressed to the floor? They’d laugh at me, “Have you lost your mind?” They’d ask, “You can’t seriously tell me you are religious.” Religious... I was once a happy ‘speculative atheist’, how did I change into this whirlwind tour through my journey. Where did it begin? Maybe it started when I first met practicing Muslims. That was in 1991, at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I was an open minded, tolerant, liberal woman, 24 years old. I saw Muslim women walking around the international center and felt sorry for them. I knew they were oppressed. When I asked them why they cover their hair, why they wore long sleeves in summer, my sorrow increased when they told me, that they wore the veil, and they dressed so, because God asked them to. Poor things. What about their treatment in Muslim countries? “That’s culture,” they would reply. I knew they were deluded, socialized, brainwashed from an early age into believing in this wicked way of treating women. But I noticed how happy they were, how friendly they were, how solid they were, how solid they seemed. I saw Muslim men walking around the International Center. There was even a man from Libya - the land of terrorists. I trembled when I saw them, lest they do something to me in the Name of God. I remembered on television images of masses of rampaging Arab men burning effigies of President Bush, all in the Name of God. What a God they must have, I thought. Poor things that they even believed in God, I added, secure in the truth that God was an anthropomorphic projection of us weak human beings who needed a crutch. But I noticed how helpful these men were. I perceived an aura of calmness. What a belief they must have, I thought. But it puzzled me. That was before the Gulf War broke out. What kind of God would persuade men to go to War, to kill innocent citizens of another country, to demonstrate against the US? I decided I’d better read the Holy book on whose behalf they claimed they were acting. I read a Penguin classic, surely a trustworthy book, and I couldn’t finish it, I disliked it so much. Here was God destroying whole cities at a stroke. No wonder the women are oppressed, and these fanatics exist. But then I discovered feminists who believed in God, Christian women who were feminists, and Muslim women who did not condone a lot of what I thought integral to their religion. I started to pray and call myself a ‘post-Christian feminist believer’. I felt that lightness again; maybe God did exist. I carefully examined my life’s events and I saw that coincidences and luck were God’s blessings for me, and I’d never noticed, or said thanks. I am amazed God was so Kind and Persistent while I was disloyal. My ears and feet tingle pleasantly from the washing I have just given them; a washing which cleanses me and allows me to approach God in prayer. God, an Awesome Deity. I feel awe, wonder, and peace. Please show me the path. “But surely you can see that the world is too complex, too beautiful, too harmonious to be an accident? To be the blind result of evolutionary forces? Don’t you know that science is returning to a belief in God? Don’t you know that science never contradicted Islam anyway?” I am exasperated with my imaginary jury. Haven’t they researched these things? Maybe this was the most decisive path. I’d heard on the radio an interview with a physicist who was explaining how modern science had abandoned it’s nineteenth century materialistic assumptions long ago, and was scientifically of the opinion that too many phenomenon occurred which made no sense without there being intelligence and design behind it all. Indeed, scientific experiments were not just a passive observation of physical phenomena, observation altered the way physical events proceeded, and it seemed therefore that intelligence was the most fundamental stuff of the universe. I read more, and more. I discovered that only the most die-hard anthropologists still believed in evolutionary theory, though no one was saying this very loudly for fear of losing their job. My jigsaw was starting to fall apart. “OK, so you decided God existed. You were monotheist. But Christianity is monotheistic. It is your heritage. Why leave it?” Still these questioners are puzzled. But you must understand this is the earliest question of them all to answer. I smile. I learned how the Qur’an did not contradict science in the same way the Bible did. I wanted to read the Biblical stories literally, and discovered I could not. Scientific fact contradicted Biblical account. But scientific fact did not contradict Qur’anic account; science even sometimes explained a hitherto inexplicable Qur’anic verse. This was stunning. There was a verse about how the water from fresh water rivers which flowed into the sea did not mix with the sea water; verses describing conception accurately; verses referring to the orbits of the planets. Seventh century science knew none of this. How could Muhammed be so uniquely wise? My mind drew me towards the Qur’an, but I resisted. I started going to church again, only to find myself in tears in nearly every service. Christianity continued to be difficult for me. So much didn’t make sense: the Trinity; the idea that Jesus was God incarnate; the worship of Mary, the Saints, or Jesus, rather than GOD. The priests told me to leave reason behind when contemplating God. The Trinity did not make sense, nor was it supposed to. I delved deeper. After all, how could I leave my culture, my heritage, my family? No one would understand, and I’d be alone. I tried to be a good Christian. I learned more. I discovered that Easter was instituted a couple of hundreds of years after Jesus’ death, that Jesus never called himself God incarnate, and more often said he was the Son of Man; that the doctrine of the Trinity was established some 300 odd years after Christ had died; that the Nicene Creed which I had faithfully recited every week, focusing; on each word, was written by MEN and at a political meeting to confirm the minority position that Jesus was the Son of God, and the majority viewpoint that Jesus was God’s Messenger was expunged forever. I was so angry! Why hadn’t the Church taught me these things? Well, I knew why. People would understand that they could worship God elsewhere, and that there, worship would actually make sense to them. I would only worship one God, not three, not Jesus, not the Saints, not Mary. Could Muhammed really be a messenger, could the Qur’an be God’s Word? I kept reading the Qur’an. It told me that Eve was not only to blame for the ‘fall’ ; that Jesus was a Messenger; that unbelievers would laugh at me for being a believer; that people would question the authenticity of Muhammed’s claim to revelation, but if they tried to write something as wise, consistent and rational they would fail. This seemed true. How I Embraced Islam
Page 7 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 Islam asked me to use my intelligence to contemplate God. It encouraged me to seek knowledge, it told me that those who believed in one God (Jews/ Christians/ Muslims/ whomever) would get rewards; it seemed a very encompassing religion. We stand again and still standing, bend down again to a resting position with our hands on our knees. What else can I say to God? I can’t think of enough to say, the prayer seems so long. I puff slightly, still sniffling, since with all the standing I am somewhat out of breath. “So you seriously think that I would willingly enter a religion which turned me into a second class citizen? I demand of my questioners. You know that there is a lot of abuse of women in Islamic countries, just as in the West, but this is not true of Islam. And don’t bring the veil thing up. “Don’t you know that women wear hijab because God asks them to? Because they trust in God’s word.” Still. How will I have the courage to wear hijab? I probably won’t. People will stare at me, I’ll be obvious; I’d rather hide away in the crowd when I’m out. What will my friends say when they see me in that?? OH! God! Help. I had stalled at the edge of change for many a long month, my dilemma growing daily. What should I do? Leave my old life and start a new one? But I couldn’t possibly go out in public in hijab. People would stare at me. I stood at the forked path which God helped me reach. I had new knowledge which rested comfortably with my intellect. Follow the conviction, or stay in the old way? How could I stay when I had a different outlook on life? How could I change when the step seemed too big for me? I would rehearse the conversation sentence: There is no God worthy of worship but God and Muhammed (pbuh) is his Prophet. Simple words, I believe in them, so convert. I cannot, I resisted. I circled endlessly day after day. God stood on one of the paths of the fork. Come on Kathy. I’ve brought you here, but you must cross alone. I stayed stationary, transfixed like a kangaroo trapped in a car lights late at night. Then one night, I suppose, God, gave me a final yank. I was passing a mosque with my husband. I had a feeling in me that was so strong I could hardly bear it. If you don’t convert now, you never will, my inner voice told me. I knew it was true. OK, I’ll do it. If they let me in the mosque I’ll do it. But there was no one there. I said the shahaada under the trees outside the mosque. I waited. I waited for the thunderclap, the immediate feeling of relief, the lifting of my burden. But it didn’t come. I felt exactly the same. Now we are kneeling again, the world looks so different from down here. Even famous football players prostrate like this, I remember, glancing sideways at the tassels of my hijab which fall onto the prayer mat; we are sitting up straight, my prayer leader is muttering something still, waving his right hand’s forefinger around in the air. I look down at my mat again. The green, purple, and black of my prayer mat look reassuringly the same. The blackness of the Mosque’s entrance entreats me: ‘I am here, just relax and you will find me.’ My tears have dried on my face and my skin feels tight. “What am I doing here?” Dear God. I am here because I believe in you, because I believe in the compelling and majestic words of the Qur’an, and because I believe in the Prophethood of your Messenger Muhammed (pbuh). I know in my heart my decision is the right one. Please give me the courage to carry on with this new self and new life, that I may serve you well with a strong faith. I smile and stand up, folding my prayer mat into half, and lay it on the sofa ready for my next encounter with its velvety green. Now the burden begins to lift. DU’A FOR PROTECTION FROM MISFORTUNE (The Du’a of Abu-Darda) “One day, a neighbor came running to Hadrat Abu-Dardaa (Radiy-Allaahu anhu) when he was at his shop. The neighbor said that the neighborhood where they lived was on fire and that Hadrat Abu-Dardaa’s house was also burning. Hadrat Abu-Dardaa calmly said, ‘No, it has not burned.’ Another person came in and gave the same report, and Hadrat AbuDardaa gave the same reply. A third person showed up with the same news and got the same answer. Then another man came in and said, ‘AbuDardaa! The fire was blazing high but, when the flames came to your house, they went out!’ Abu-Dardaa replied, ‘I knew that Allah, The Exalted, would not allow my house to burn because I heard from Rasulu-Lah (Salla-Lahu ‘alai wa Salam) that the person who repeats certain words in the morning will be safe from all misfortunes until evening, and I recited those words this morning.’” They are: “Allah-humma, anta rabbi, laa ilaaha illaa Anta, ‘alaika tawakkaltu wa anta rabbul ‘arshil kariymi maashaa Allaahu kaana wa maLam yasha’ lam yakuw-wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa bil-Laahil ‘Aliyyil ‘Aziym. A’lamu annallaaha ‘alaa kulli shay in qadiyruw-wa annallaaha qad ahaata bikulli shay in ‘almaa. Allah-humma inni a’uthu bika min sharri nafsiy wa min sharri kulli daabbatin, anta aakhithum bi naasiyatihaa inna rabiy ‘alaa siraatim-mustaqiym.” Translation: “Oh Allah, You are my Lord. There is nothing worthy of worship except You. I place all of my trust and reliance in You and You are the Lord of the Noble Throne. Whatever Allah wishes takes place, and whatever He does not desire, does not occur, and there is no power and no strength except in Allah, The Exalted, The Mighty. I know that Allah is Powerful over all things and that Allah has knowledge of all things. Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of my nafs and from the evil of every creeping crawling creature. You are master over them. Verily, You are Lord of the Straight Path.” Islam asked me to use my intelligence to contemplate God. Do You Need Insurance?
Page 8 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18 by Aqil Abdul Baseer Imagine yourself driving along the road merely truing to get from point “A” to point “B”: You notice, with no more than a cursory glance, the usual billboard advertisements offering you n u m e r o u s goods or services in exchange for your well earned capital. Unmoved by the many “meet or beat” pricing slogans or the “no interest or payments until next year” marketing schemes, you continue to drive on. There is no large print offering you something free, until you read the fine print and notice that there is a catch. This one offers you much more than you ever dreamed or imagined. You say to yourself, “Only a fool would refuse such a deal.” You then decide learn more; in big, bold letters, the sign reads in part: “O you who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous chastisement?” (Holy Quran 61:10) Dear Believers, although imagery is used to introduce our topic, the offer is real. Allah praises and glorified is He, proposes a “business deal,” of sorts, to the believers. Most, if not all of us, have engaged in a business transaction of one kind or another at some point in our lives. It may have been as simple as trading baseball cards, buying some milk from a store, to negotiating a car deal, yet and still these are all forms of “business deal”. For many of us the impetus behind most of our “business transactions” is to make a profit. We desire to get more for our money. Unless we’re “impulse buying” we will shop around for the best deal or some of us go after bargains with such a zeal, that we are labeled as “bargain hunters”. Just what is a “bargain”? A bargain is commonly understood as an advantageous purchase. Webster’s 10th Edition Collegiate Dictionary defines the word bargain as an agreement between parties settling what each gives or receives in transaction between them or what course of action or policy each pursues in respect to the other. (Emphasis mine) But what if one of the parties seeks to make no profit whatsoever. He only wills to give the other patty the “better end of the stick”? This is the case with Allah. No matter what He gives or receives neither increases decrease what he has. In a Hadith Qudsi (Sacred Hadith) Allah says: “O My servants, you can not seek to harm Me, and you can not seek to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My Kingdom in anything. O my servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you that would not decrease My Kingdom in anything. O my servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested. That would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decrease the sea if put into it.” So the benefit is entirely ours. As mentioned above, Allah says: “O you who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous chastisement?” He says to the believers; “Hal adullukum alaa tijaaratin…” He puts it in the form of a question. He gives the individual believer the choice whether or not to choose to be led to the bargain - as with all choice. As with all things in the lives of men, Allah does not compel us to do anything. So He asks the believer, Shall I “adullukum,” lead you, guide you, or point out to you a “tunjeekun,” save you, rescue you and deliver you. Deliver us from what? “Adhaabin aleem.” The Arabic word “aleem” means excruciating, painful, grievous, and sad. The Arabic words “adhaabin” means: pain, torment, suffering, agony, torture, punishment, etc. Allah implies that acceptance and fulfillment of this bargain will save us from an excruciating punishment. This is no ordinary deal. So here we have it. Allah is proposing to us, a transaction that will prove to be so beneficial for us that it will delivers from the pain and suffering of the Hellfire. As with anyone faced with a deal that seems too good to be true, we want to know, “Where’s the catch?” What must we do? Allah says that there are essentially two basic things that we must do in order to reap the full measure of this deal. Allah says: “That you believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you strive (you utmost) in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your persons.” Here Allah says: “tu’minuna billahi wa rasoolihi.” the Arabic word “tu’minuna” is derived from the word “amuna” which means: he was faithful, reliable, and trustworthy. In the above context it means to place our complete faith, reliance, and trust in the ability, strength, and truth of Allah. The belief in Allah is to believe that strength, and truth of Allah. The belief in Allah is to believe the He is one, having no partners. This is known in Al-Islam as “Tawheed”. “Tawheed” is the most important aspect of all the beliefs in Al-Islam. We must purify our hearts of any and all other “gods” or objects of worship. Once we have done this, faith in Allah can take root and blossom in our very souls. Knowledge of Allah and belief in Him is the first and most important aspect in the edification of Al-Islam. To establish and strengthen our faith in Allah we must learn and study His Attributes. We must come to know Him as He describes Himself. We cannot truly know Allah without becoming acquainted with His attributes. We must place complete faith is His attributes. When we come to know that He is all-seeing, all-hearing, all-knowing, and all-powerful, we must place full confidence in the fact that this is true. We must not doubt. Believing in Allah knows that all manners of worship and service are to be directed to Him and Him alone. Allah says, in this verse, that belief does not stop there. After saying: “tu’minuna billahi,” He says: “warasoolihi.” That we must also believe in His Messenger (PBUH). Notice that Allah said that believe in Allah and his messenger that means we must believe in Allah and his messenger together not separately. To deny one is to deny the other. This is not to say that Prophet (PBUH) has equal rank or status with Allah, no, it is merely suggesting that belief in Prophet Muhammad is so essential that disbelief in prophet, disbelief in Allah’s veracity, and also His Book, the Holy Quran. It is through His Holy Book that Allah tells us to believe in Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Disbelief as well as obedience in the Prophet (PBUH) amounts to rejecting faith. Allah says: “But know by thy lord they can have no Faith until they make thee judge in all disputes between them. And find in their souls no resistance against thy decision, and accept them with the fullest conviction.” (Holy Quran 4:65) “O you who believe! Believe in Allah and his messenger and the scripture, which he has sent to His messenger, and the scripture which He sent down to those before (him). And whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His angles, His books, Hismessengers, and theDay of Judgment, then indeed he has strayed far away.” (Holy Quran 4:136) “O mankind! The messenger hath come to you in truth from Allah: So believe in him, it is best for you. But if you disbelieve, then certainly to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise. (Holy Quran 4:170) “It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a The Deal of a Lifetime
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