Category Archives: Theology

Shaykh Habib ‘Ali Jifri gives the Hadith of Love

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بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على رسول الله و على آله و سلم

I was blessed to attend the 2011 Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference in Toronto this past December. I usually dislike conferences as being shallow, mostly image and lacking substance, but this was an exception. I would recommend everyone attend, and I intend to go next year, in sha Allah.

The following is a cell-phone clip from a talk by Shaykh Habib ‘Ali al-Jifri presenting the famous and beautiful Hadith Musalsal of Love.

For those who cannot watch the video, Shaykh Habib ‘Ali narrates that one day the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم met Mu’adh ibn Jabal رحمه الله and said, “Indeed I love you. So when you finish your prayers, do not forget to say ‘Oh Allah, I seek your help in remembering you, and thanking you and perfecting my worship of you.’”. When Mu’adh told the next person, he began by saying “Indeed, I love you”, thus spreading the love of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم, and continued with the rest of the narration.

This tradition continued from one to the next to begin by telling the recipient, “Indeed, I love you”, until it came to Shaykh Habib ‘Ali from his Shaykhs. So Shaykh Habib ‘Ali said to the crowd of around ~20,000, “Indeed, I love you all, So whenever you finish your prayers, do not forget to say ‘Oh Allah, I seek your help in remembering you, and thanking you and perfecting my worship of you.’”

The Love of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم traveled through time and place through an unbroken chain and reached us.  This type of hadith, where you say it to the next person, is called a Hadith Musalsal. I put this video to help dispel the “Jahil mullah molvie terrorist” stereotype that is presented by some within the Ahmadiyya community.

One final point. When someone watches a video like this, his or her natural reaction is to want to do Durood Shareef (Salawat). The most proper way of doing so is to send ask Allah to send prayers upon the Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family. A simple form would be Allahumma salli ‘ala saydina Muhammad wa ‘ala aali saydina Muhammad.

May Allah guide us all.

و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و على آله و سلم تسليما

Ahmadiyya and the Era of Sectarianism

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 بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على رسول الله و على آله و سلم

One of the most amazing aspects of Islamic history are the stages that the Muslim community passed through. It seems that in every generation a new issue arose that needed to be dealt with, and through Allah’s Lutf (subtle care) different personages and figures came to help stabilize the Ummah.

Such stages of Fitnah include:

  • The shock and instability after the death of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم;
  • The four false prophets who arose in Arabia and subsequent wars with Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه;
  • The crusaders versus the numerous Muslims generals;
  • The Tatar invasion of Ghengis Khan when ‘Izz al-Din ibn ‘Abd al-Salam unified the Muslims;
  • You see this pattern repeated…

But what about the fitnah of Sectarianism?

If you read ahadith about the 73-sects, you might get this impression that you need to ask yourself which of the 73-sects you are upon? Which is true? Which am I? How do I know which is correct? Lets have a debate and find out! But then ask yourself, is sectarianism really the main problem in our times?

Sectarianism is a fitnah that the Muslim world primarily experienced 100-300 years after the departure of the noble Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم. During this period is when the Muslims divided into literally hundreds of small theological, political and social groups, each claiming to be the “True Islam”. Compounding the problem, many of those new ideologies held extremely compelling arguments in their favor – don’t think they were flimsy!

It was during that time that the masses were engaged in debate over the technicalities and subtleties of the Deen. Confusion was wide-spread, father and son, student and teacher, governor and subject, even two highly ranked scholars all would vehemently argue. Many were influenced by outside ideologies without even realizing it. Others embraced invented ideas wholeheartedly. Some new groups gained prominence, one even took control of the Khilafah!

But as Allah says in the Qur’an, “Travel through the land; then observe how was the end of the deniers.” If we reflect on this ayah, Allah is not calling on us to see how a splinter-sect thrived during its glory days, but how it ended. The vast majority of those sects and groups are no longer in existence today. Some burned out, most fell into obscurity with only a few thousand scattered followers nowadays. Alhumdu lillah, our generation was largely saved from that Fitnah.

At this moment, the vast majority of the Muslims follow “regular Islam”, version 1.0, and are at little risk of joining the remnants of a break-away group. What does this tell us? This is not the era of sectarianism or schisms. ‘Aqidah problems are rarely the immediate issue with contemporary Muslims. The debates are over, that fitnah has come and gone. And just as we do not need to excessively concern ourselves with past issues, we do not need to re-engage ourselves in questions of dogmatic belief that have already been answered. Islam does not need to be re-invented. Newly created arguments are exactly how break-away sects are formed in the first place! Instead we stand on the shoulders of giants to face the current issues that that plague our modern community.

But the Ahmadiyya religion seeks to re-open questions that, not only were answered centuries ago, are not subjects of contemporary debate and have no relevance to our modern times. They went as far as to publish this ludicrous lists of the “72 sects”, many of whom have not even existed in hundreds of years, but somehow allegedly came back into existence, managed to unify, all condemn Ahmadiyya, and then went back into non-existence. Convenient.

You tell me:

  • What is telling a woman who was raped by Qadaffi’s forces that, “by the way, the Mahdi came about 100 years ago, looks like everyone missed him”, going to do for her shattered self-esteem and self-respect?
  • What is a Somali man who watched all of his children die from starvation in the droughts going to do if you tell him, “Jesus is dead”.
  • What is a Chechen mother whose son “disappeared” going to do with your attempts to convince her that half of the Qur’an is a bunch of confusing metaphors whose correct understanding no one understood for 1300 years?

Clearly ‘Aqidah is not the primary issue of our times. But the “problems” Ahmadiyya attempts to solve are not on the minds of Muslims, nor are they even our concerns. No one is looking at a calendar thinking, “Man, so when is ‘Esa bin Maryam عليه السلام going to return?” My friends, you are dwelling on non-issues to a people who have more immediate concerns on their minds.

Just like every other break-away group that preceded it, Ahmadiyya has come, will run its course, and will eventually fade away.I am glad that our pious predecessors protected the religion from corruption during the era of sectarianism, and I pray for the forgiveness of those who were sincere but slipped into misguidance. May Allah guide us all to the Truth and keep us firm upon it.

و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و على آله و سلم

Who is the Messiah?

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بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على سيدنا محمد و على آله و سلم

The Messiah is ‘Esa bin Maryam عليه السلام.

Per the Qur’an, no one else is the Messiah other than ‘Esa bin Maryam عليه السلام.

We are Muslims who believe in the Messiah, ‘Esa bin Maryam عليه السلام.

We invite Ahmadis to accept the Messiah.

May Allah guide us all

The difference between Ahmadis and Bahais

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I have noticed that many people in our Arabic media cannot differentiate between Ahmadis and Bahais. Well, I don’t really blame them as there are many similarities between Ahmadis and Bahais. The followings are just few things that both Ahmadis and Bahais do actually share:

1-     Their Mahdi was born in the 19th Century, and died on a Tuesday.

2-     Their Mahdi claimed that he is from Persian origins.

3-     Their Mahdi claimed that he is also a descendant of Fatimah (ra) and Ahlulbait.

4-     Their Mahdi wrote many Arabic books, one of these books was Tafseer of Surat-ul-Fatiha.

5-     Their Mahdi plagiarized parts of some verses and Maqamat in his Arabic writings.

6-     A double eclipse happened in Ramadhan during the lifetime of their Mahdi.

7-     Their Mahdi was brought to a local court for trial.

8-     Their Mahdi used Hisab Al-Jummal (numerical values of the words / Arabic alphanumeric coding) to prove that he is the true Mahdi.

9-     Their Promised One was a Mirza who claimed that the signs mentioned by all Hadeeths and holy books about the Promised Messiah have been fulfilled by him.

10-  Their Promised One, the Mirza, was born in the 13th Hijri century and died in the 14th Hijri century during the last week of May.

11-  Their Promised One, the Mirza, sent a letter to Queen Victoria asking her to accept him and to follow his teachings.

12-  Their Promised One claimed that he did not study Arabic language, however he could write dozens of Arabic and Persian books. His followers consider this as a great sign that proves his truthfulness.

13-  They consider the prophecies of their Promised One as another sign that proves his truthfulness.

14-  Their Promised One said that Jihad is not allowed anymore.

15-  Their Promised One praised Mohammad (SAAW) many time in his writings.

16-  Their Promised One was considered – by his own followers only – to be the greatest writer ever (“Sultan Al-Qalam” or “Faris Al-Maani”)

17-  Their Promised One used Hisab Al-Jummal (numerical values of the words) to prove that Islam had died for 1000 years until the 19th century.

18-  Their Promised One claimed that he himself is the manifestation/appearance of God. However the official position of his followers today is that manifestation of God does not mean that he himself is a God.

19-  Their Promised One challenged all scholars to write a book that is equivalent to his book.

20-  Their Promised One claimed that he is an Avatar, i.e. the “reincarnation of Krishna”.

21-  Their Promised One claimed that he was sent by Allah (SWT) to the people of the world.

22-  Their Mujaddid claimed that upon the death of a human being, his soul will immediately be given a special body that has had special nature.

23-  Their Promised One claimed that sometimes the divine revelations do not follow human idiom and sometime does not even follow the rules of grammar.

24-  Their Promised One claimed that he had been given the qualities of many prophets: e.g. Mohammad (SAAW), Isa (as), Musa (as), etc.

25-  Their Promised One claimed that Yawm Al-Qiyamah will come after around 1000 years.

26-  Their Mujaddid believed that the Heaven and the Hell are spiritual places and not physical places.

27-  Their Promised One claimed that he had been receiving secret revelations for 10 years confirming that he is the promised one, however he waited 10 years before revealing this secret.

28-  Their Promised One had invented new names of God.

29-  They consider Quran as a Holy Book, however they also consider the Arabic Wahi of their Promised One as holy, divine and sacred.

30-  Their holy Arabic revelation said that their Promised One does not speak out of his own desire, it is all Wahi vouchsafed to him

31-  Their holy Arabic revelation instructed them not to worship any god but Allah.

32-  Many of their Promised One’s Arabic revelations are just meaningless distortion of some Quranic verses.

33-  Their promised Reformer was also a Mirza like his father, the Promised One

34-  Their promised Reformer died in the month of November at an age of around 77 years.

35-  Their promised Reformer introduced some interpretations that are different from the original teachings of the Promised One.  

36-  One of their Mirzas introduced a new special solar calendar. The months of the new calendar have had new Arabic names.

37-  Their message to the world is that ‘Glory not in love for your country, but in love for all mankind’.

38-  It is obligatory for them to pay to their leadership a specific amount of money that had been decided by their Promised One.

39-  They believe that the antichrist is not a specific evil individual or entity.

40-  Their leader claimed that the most important role for his followers is to show the true good image of Islam and the true Islamic teachings to the western people and the whole world.

41-  Their Mujaddid believed that the promised one should not descend from heaven but he would appear in the body of another person.

42-  They interpret many of the words “Jinn” mentioned in Quran to mean “human beings who are fiery natured”.

43-  Their Mujaddid did not believe that the moon was split up literally into two parts during the lifetime of Mohammad (SAAW).

44-  They teach that everyone must be loyal to the government that rules his country, whatever that government is.

45-  They believe that divine revelations have not been stopped and will always continue to descend.

46-  Their main center in the Middle East is located near to the city of Haifa, Palestine.

47-  The followers of their Promised One in Palestine receive very special treatment from the Israeli government. However, they face a sort of persecution in some Muslim countries.

48-  They are not allowed by the Saudi government to enter Mecca or Madinah.

49-  They believe that Mohammad (SAAW) is “Khatam-un-Nabiyyean”, however they claim that it does not mean “the last prophet”.

50-  Their women are not allowed to marry Muslims who do not believe in their Promised One.

51-  They use the Quranic verses 69:45/46 ((And if he had fabricated against Us some of the sayings * We would certainly have seized him by the right hand)) to prove that their Promised One was truthful as he was not killed.

52-  They claim that some kings/presidents had accepted the teachings of their Promised One.

53-  They consider most of the miracles – which were shown by the prophets in Quran and the holy books – as sort of metaphor.

54-  They believe that the body of Isa (as) was put on the cross.

55-  They believe that Isa (as) had died.

56-  They believe that Miraaj did not happen to the body of Rasulullah (saaw) but to his soul only.

57-  They believe that Surat At-Takweer mentions the signs of their Promised One, and not the signs of Yawm Al-Qiyamah.

58-  They translated some of the books of their Mahdi to some languages; however they still did not translate many of his Arabic books to any other language. Apparently they could not understand many of his odd, irrelevant and meaningless Arabic sentences

59-  They claim that they have millions of followers in more than 200 countries. However, my own estimation about their total number worldwide is less than 2 millions.

60-  Their promised Reformer caused the movement to split into two sects. Each sect says that the other sect is not on the right path.

 

However I would summarize the main differences between Ahmadis and Bahais as follows:

1-     The Mujaddid according to Ahmadis was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. The Mujaddid according to Bahais was Shaykh Ahmad bin Zayn-ud-Deen al-Ahsaai.

2-     The Mahdi according to Ahmadis was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. The Mahdi according to Bahais was Ali Mohammad Shirazi.

3-     The Promised One according to Ahmadis was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. The Promised One according to Bahais was Mirza Hussain Ali Nuri.

4-     The Promised Reformer according to Ahmadis was Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood.  The Promised Reformer according to Bahais was Mirza Abbas Effendi “Abdul-Baha”.

5-     The Ahmadi solar calendar was invented by Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood. The Bahai solar calendar was invented by Ali Mohammad Shirazi.

 

Can you find any other difference?

The Providence of W. Deen Muhammad

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بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على سيجدنا محمد و على آله و سلم

In 2008, the American Muslim community wept as Wallace Deen Muhammad returned to Allah. I’ve met many famous people in my life, but amongst the most memorable was meeting W. Deen Muhammad. It was Fall 2003, and I was a beardless 19 year old sophomore in college. I took a trip to North Carolina with some older African-American Muslim gentlemen to meet and schedule him to deliver a talk for our Muslim Students Association (MSA). He had striking blue eyes and a glow of wisdom that only comes with experience written on his face. He was glad to meet a member of the MSA, even a skinny 19 year old, happy we were continuing the tradition, and briefly mentioned how they helped him when his community had expelled him.

…But who was W. Deen Muhammad and why am I writing this on a blog about Ahmadiyya?

Continue reading →

Four Short Encounters of Seeing Allah

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بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على محمد و على آله و سلم

Incident #1

In Surah al-’Araaf verse 143, Musa عليه السلام asks to see Allah. Allah says, “You will never (لن) [be able to] see me”. Then the light of Allah shone upon a mountain which crumbled to dust. That alone caused Musa عليه السلام to faint. Allah cannot be seen.

Incident #2

Once, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani was traveling from one city to another when, to his amazement, the heavens opened up and a figure appeared sky. The figure said, “O ‘Abd al-Qadir! I am God. Because of your devotion to me, I removed the burden of prayer to me from you!”

Did Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir rejoice? Was he happy? No, he said to the figure, “Shut up you enemy of Allah!” Continue reading →

‘Ulama, Murabbis and two extremely weak hadiths

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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله وحده و الصلاة و السلام على من لا نبي بعده و على آله و أصحابه أجمعين

Some of the Ahmadiyya leaders try to stereotype contemporary Islamic scholarship as a whole using some narrations recorded in Hadith works.

Before talking of the status of scholars (‘ulama) in the House of Islam and especially their role with regards to the Ahamdiyya cult, let us first see the narrations that some Ahmadiyya leaders use and scrutinize them to check their authenticity.

Narration 1:

The following is the translation of one such narration as it appears on the AlIslam.org website:

The Prophet once said, “There will come a time upon the people when nothing will remain of Islam except its name and nothing will remain of the Quran except its words. Their mosques will be splendidly furnished but destitute of guidance. Their divines will be the worst people under the Heaven; strife will issue from them and avert to them.”

Continue reading →

Chanda: An Introduction to Financial Sacrifice

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بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على رسول الله و على آله و سلم بسليما

Lets talk about Chanda! But first, a word from our sponsors:

اتَّبِعُوا مَن لَّا يَسْأَلُكُمْ أَجْرًا وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ
Follow those who do not ask of you [any] payment, and they are [rightly] guided.
Surah Yasin, Verse 21


The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم directed us to pay 2.5% of one’s end of year savings. This is the absolute minimum Allah has commanded us to give, which is distributed directly to the poor, not even to the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. While giving is good, and truly necessary in some circumstances, the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم never made a general mandate to give money except to the poor.

However, the Ahmadiyya faith has created a new law: Chanda. Often described as a “financial sacrifice”, Chanda is a fee paid by all Ahmadis merely for being Ahmadi. This fee, a tithe, is given directly to the religious authorities. Tithes were not a practice of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم, and thus constitutes a new religious innovation – a new law created in the faith, despite the claim that Mirza Ghulam was a “non-law-bearing” prophet.
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Scholars on the meanings of “Khatam al-Nabiyyin”

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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله وحده و الصلاة و السلام على من لا نبي بعده و على آله و أصحابه أجمعين

In this post we see quotes from various scholars about the meaning of “khatam al-nabiyyin”. Many issues that are often a subject of discussion among the Muslims and Ahmadis are dealt with in these quotes.

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Who is following “True Islam”?

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بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على محمد و على آله و سلم

Lets start with two simple questions:

Was the Islam that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم was upon “True Islam”? Undoubtedly Yes.

Is the Islam practiced by Muslims today the “True Islam”? Muslims would argue Yes, and the Ahmadiyya would argue No.

Assuming that the Islam practiced by the Muslims today is no longer “True Islam”, that would imply that somewhere in the last 1432 years separating us from the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم all Muslims spontaneously and simultaneously went astray in belief, hence the need for Mirza Ghulam to create the Ahmadiyya faith. This is the standard Ahmadiyya narrative and it seems to make sense.

But lets take a closer look….turn back the clock 1300 years.
Continue reading →