Viking bro. I whole heartedly agree that this was not the rebuttal i prepared for the article, if you have given me as much ( Xusnul Dhann) like you have given Br. Syed, you'd have seen my intial statement that I have written this response in haste inorder not to loose momentum since my bread winning activities were taking over most of my schedule and the topic was too hot to handle. But to be honest, your support for all of Br. Syed's premises and blanket rejection for all the logic behind my argument left me with questions about your impartiality as a neutral Nomad. I notice that as the poster of the article, that you believe Br. Syed's points and you are not inclined to even give an iota of credebility to what I have written in such short time, an impromptu response from the top of my head.I realize that this challenge is actually good for me as you are helping a healthy debate, and helping me refine my convictions better. Since my last post, Alhamdulillah, I have collected the substantiations to Br. Syed's rebuttal, The challenge infront of me now is to say it in English, isnhaAllah, with Allah's help, it will be done, so please visit again, half the fun is debating, before we resolve this question of yours. Nur

Nomads This is first part of my rebuttal, I am posting this in haste in order not to loose momentum. It was brought to my attention that some Nomads understood that I am boasting a title qualifying me to answer to Brother Syed, however, that was not what I meant. For the last four years as an active member on this forum, and later, a volunteer to act as a moderator, I have limited my title as Nur, at times I add Brother Nur, but never any other title, my only credentials are my writings, like they say, the proof is in the pudding. Now Brother Ibrahim Syed writes: Originally posted by Viking: [QB] Is Killing An Apostate in the Islamic Law? Due lack of education and critical thinking several myths have taken root in the Muslim world over the ages, and there have not been any efforts in the past to clear these doubts. On the contrary, there has been a sort of effort to strengthen these myths and misconceptions. These misinterpretations of Islamic teachings have taken their toll on the Muslim world and have strengthened a misplaced perception that Islam is a symbol of obscurantism, a religion of intolerance and answers everything with the sword. Answer: This statement is flawed on several counts: 1. Lack of education: Has the brother surveyed the Islamic Educational Institutions and quantified the criteria of required level of education, and then found Muslims failing the grade? which justifies that he pioneers the subject after 14 centuries? 2. The Efforts to strengthen misconceptions about Islam. To counter that notion, does a nonbeliever has a good conception of Islam no matter how it is presented? 3. Misinterpretation: What are trhe guidelines of good interpretation, is it to suit those who want to sound like Christianity, a vague religion where everyone can write like this statement in the bible:" And it seems good to me also to write" Brother Syed writes: And there is no bigger misconception-strengthened with misunderstanding of Islamic beliefs over the years-other than the belief that Islam doesn't tolerate apostasy . Answer: Islam means Submission to One true God, Allah, and living by the commandments of Allah alone, Appostacy means a stark denial of that creed, a declaration of rebellion and a promise to work against it. Brother Syed writes: The Christian missionaries and the Western world are cashing in on it . Is there an issue they have not cashed on? like women in Islam are oppressed, Islam is a terrorist religion, Allah says that people of the book will never be staified until Muslims follw their ways, how much farther should Muslims drift in their direction to appease them? Brother Syed writes: Ulama have tried to strengthen their point of view and several leading Muslim reformists have failed to tackle the issue Which clearly leaves Brother Syed as the only alternative to scholars in Sharia? Brotehr Syed writes: This misconception has also presented Islam as a medieval and killer religion. Islam bashers have time and again tried to carry the point by pointing out that Islam orders the killing of a person if he or she reverts to another religion from Islam . Islam bashers will not stop until they make all of appostates if they can as Allah says in Quraan " Xatttaa yarudduukum can diinikum in istdaacuu" Brother Syed writes: No body is forthcoming to challenge this widely held belief as well as put forth a convincing argument about the misinterpretation of Qur'anic teachings by Ulama . Very interesting! a non native Arabic speaker, non versed in Sharia or Hadeeth science is taking on the Ulema of Islam throughout the ages, to prove that they have failed the proper interpretation of the Quraanic teachings. Brother Syed writes: The Qur’an is completely silent on any worldly punishment for apostasy and the sole Tradition that forms the basis of rulings is open to many interpretations . This statment is false, Please read the following verses of the quraan and then read the asbaabul nuzuul ( Purpose of Revelation): (وقالت طائÙØ© من أهل الكتاب أمنوا بالذي أنزل على الذين أمنوا وجه النهار واكÙروا آخره لعلهم يرجعون، ولا تؤمنوا إلا لمن تبع دينكم، قل أن الهدى هدى الله أن يؤتى أحد مثل ما أوتيتم أو يحاجوكم عند ربكم، قل أن الÙضل بيد الله يؤتيه من يشاء والله واسع عليم) (سورة آل عمران/ 72-73 A group of the people of the book conspired and said "Convert to Islam in the early part of the day, and become apostates at the end of that day, so that (Muslims) becomes apostates (like us), and do not believe (in any Mulsim) unless he is following our faith, say (O Muhammad) guidance is (ONLY) the guidnace of Allah SWT. It was reported by ibn Ubbas RAA, that he said that this verse was revealed when Abdullah ibn Saff, Adi ibn Zeid, and Harith ibnu Auf (people of the Book) conspired and said to each other " let us convert to the belief of Mohammad and his companions in the morning and become apostates at sunset to confuse them about their faith so they will do what we do and revert back from their faith. In other narrations, it was reported that they wanted to show believers that the people of the book found errors with Islam after they have asked their Rabbis about the religion of Muhammad and after converting found the religion of Muhammad not to be true just like their Rabbis told them, therefore, they became apostates. Then, Allah revealed this verse on that occasion. The verse above lays the groundwork for the Hadeeth ruling which was meant to close this loophole, the Sharia requires once a danger is identified that Muslims take a course of action to minimize the danger to their faith, thus the sufficient and necessary ruling. Brother Syed writes: Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said: ‘Whosoever changes his religion, Kill Him (man baddala Dinahu faqtuluhu)’â€. It is this last quote from the Prophet that forms the basis of the said ruling . Wrong again, the basis of this ruling is the principle of protection of faith, the first article of the Usuul al Sharia. Even if there was no single Hadeeth, the science of Usuul Al Shraria maintains that any threat that can endanger the faith's exisitence should be dealt with appropriately. Islam, the last true Abrahamic religion should be preserved and protected in face of forces that caused Christianity and judaism to be diluted with paganism. Brother Syed writes: While jurists are agreed on the authenticity of this tradition, they differ very widely on the appropriate interpretation and thus, the law concerning apostasy. Understanding the different viewpoints, and arriving at the truth is crucial to our discussion of this subject . It is interesting to follow the fallacies of arriving at the notion that this hadeeth is false after you have accepted that all Muslim Jurists agree on the authenticity of this hadeeth, at the end of the brothers article he claims that one possibility is that the Hadeeth may not be true after all, thus, his creative analyses that will lead to a defenseless paralyses of Islam against attempts to confuse its ever increasing followers. Brother Syed writes: This tradition does not refer to Muslims who leave the religion of Islam for other religions. Finally, there is the crucial dispute over the nature of the punishment and the crime. Al-Nakha’ee and, according to Sha’rani, al-Thawri, hold that the apostate is a grave sinner who should however be continuously called back to the fold for the rest of his life, and not killed . Apostacy is not a sin, or at least in Arabic, Masiya and kufr and not the same thing, nor do they carry the same judgemnet, since kufr has a special ruling: 1. Dhimmi ( Non believer living with Muslims adhering with the Sharia law, not seeking to convert Muslims to Kufr) Has full rights, his life, properties and dignity is protected by Sharia law. 2. Muxaarib ( A non beliver at declared war against islam) His life is not protected. 3. A Convert who reverted back to Kufr ( His status is risky, he can not benefit from Dhimmi status, because of the caution of the above verse, therefore, unless he declares that he is non believer in public, no harm is done to him, but if goes ahead with publicity that he left Islam, his statement will constitute war against Islam, no one can go to any country and take their citizenship, aoth of allegiance, then declare that they want to live with them as a foreign agent to spread suspicion against that state constitution. 4. A natural Muslim who became apostate: His ruling is similar to that of those Abu Bakar waged war of apostates ( Xuruubul Ridda). As for the traditions that support that above are many, its due to lack of enough research time that i can not recall, but one such Hadeeth is the Hadeeth in which a Jew and a Muslim came to The Prophet Muhammad SAWS for a judgment on a disbute, The Prophet SAWS ruled for the favor of the Jew, the Muslim was not satisfied, he went to Abu Bakar, likewise, Abu Bakar ruled for the Jew, then the Muslim went to Omar for judgement, Omar asked him if he was dissatisfied with the judgemnet of the Prophet, when the Muslim plaintiff confirmed, Omar killed the Muslim for apostacy, here, for rejecting a ruling by the Prophet SAWS. It is this incidence and many others that show the bases of the Ulema's and the companions like Omar's fatwa that an apostate is not a crime alone, it is a treason against the ummah, therefore, he is deemed at war against Islam in essence thus the ruling. Brother Syed writes: By implication, they do not consider the offence a hadd (fixed penalty) offence with a fixed punishment that must be carried out . Xuduud (Hudood) are penalties for those who adhere and accept islam, it is reported that prophet SAWS said that Kufr is beyound a Sin, therefore apostacy is regulated by a different department altogether, that of the nonbelievers as I classified above. I would appreciate if the brother can show where did Imaam ahmed ibn Hanbal, or Ibn Taymia suggested that an apostate is not punishable by death? amazingly, Ibn Taimia had written a lengthy book called " Al Saarimul Masluul calaa Shaatimul Rasuul " in which he addressed this issue in detail, arguing for the ijmaa , the consensus of ulema that an apostate is punishable by death, if after clearing his misconceptions , he does not return to Islam, if on the other hand, a person is so stubborn as not to even to conceal his disbelief and is willing to die for his convictions, then no Sharia law is there to protect him from his own choice. It is of special interest to know that no one at the time of the Prophet SAWS doubted the punsihment of an Apostate, when the companions learned of some of the hypocrites who were consealing their kufr, they suggested to the prophet to allow them to kill them, but the prophet SAWS rejected on the grounds that it will seem as though Muhammad was kiulling his own companions, which was an issue that would have ill served the advance of islam and its acceptability. Brother Syed writes: If repentance is accepted, then apostasy is not a hadd offence with a fixed punishment. Secondly, once scholars accept that a Muslim apostate has the right to be given the opportunity to repent, they lose the right to set a time limit for his repentance . To try to save him on technicality of the ambiguity of the time frame bewteen when he is asked to repent and when he responds, is clearly a go around the law of Sharia to make the Quraan and hadeeth ineffective, In Islam, when there is ambiguity in Quraan and Hadeeth we resort to the Qiyaas, and then to Ijmaa, all driven by the principle of protection of faith, Mind, life, property, dignity and so on. This argument arose in several places in Sharia, such as how long does a person stays away from perfroming prayers before we can label him Tarikul Salaat? how many hairs constitute a beard? when the Sharia is ambigous on a time dependent punishment, reasonable time is allowed, but not forever, thus making the law void an null. Brother Syed Quotes the following verse in Quraan Allah (SWT) says in the Glorious Qur’an (39: 53-54: Say: “ O you servants of Mine who have transgressed against your own selves! Despair not of God’s mercy. Behold God forgives all sins, for verily He is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace! Hence, turn toward your sustainer and surrender yourselves unto him before the suffering (of death and resurrection) comes upon you for then you will not be succored. †Interesting! This verse is addresses Muslim sinners, not apostates, how can they benefit from it when they are bent denying the Messenger and the verse itself? Freedom to convert to or from Islam " Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . When did the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights superced the Sovreignty of Allah as the law maker? When did a group of men who do not believe in Allah SWT the authority to set the law that protects the rights of those who want to cause confusion in islam? Of course, Islma preceded this devlaration, so, if any institution has to abide by any universal law, its the entire world must accept the supremacy of Allah's laws in the Quraan, if they reject our faith, how can we subscribe to theirs? Brother Syed Quotes: The Glorious Qur'an says, "Let there be no compulsion in the religion: Surely the Right Path is clearly distinct from the crooked path." Al Baqarah, 2:256 . This verse does not support to his argument, but I wonder why he mentioned it after the universal declaration of human rights, does he believe that Quraan is infrior to this declaration? anyway, I have already classified above that non Muslims have their rights to live peacefully with muslims in their lands, and that their persons, property and dignity is safeguarded by Allah' sacred law, anyone who violates their rights is doomed in hell. Brother Syed continues: " Those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe again, then disbelieve, and then increase in their disbelief - Allah will never forgive them nor guide them to the path." Surah An-Nisa', 4:137 . Finally, he quotes a verse that shows that apostasy is no SIN, but kufr. and that its ruling is hell in the next life, and in ithis life, the believres are given the mandate to determine how to set controls for this phenomena so that Islam does not become a permeable religion with destructive elemnents breaking its internal structure as a viable faith. Brother Syed Quotes: In another verse, Allah Almighty says: "Yours is only the duty to convey the message; you are not a guardian over them." (Al-Ghashiyah: 21- 22) If we follow this fallacy, all Sharia should be thrown out of the window. The brother fails to read reasons for the revealtion, the timing, and the succession of verses that were revealed after this one that together formed the body of the Sharia as it has been transmitted to us by the Umema, I am really shocked how shallow Brother Syed's knowledge is in this regard, my sincere advice is that he should stop writing simplistic articles like this when he has not studied the suuceession of verses and their meaning in the Arabic language. Brother Syed argues: The quotation from Surah An-Nisa', 4:137, shown above, seems to imply that multiple, sequential apostasies are possible. That would not be possible if the person were executed after the first apostasy . Interesting again, why bother beat on a dead horse, you have already declared that the mission of the Prophet was only to deliver, and not to judge? so, the logic gets interesting here, Ok, we allow indefinite time limit for a person to oscillate between kufr and islam, because if we dont allow them, then this verse would meaningless, right? WRONG Apostacy does not have always to be declared, an apostate who hides his apostacy is known as hypocrite, thus, one can become a believer without being noticed, and likewise, he can become kafir privately, so in that case, no earthly punishment for him, just a devine punishment in hell as the verse says. Brother Syed reaches a conclusion: From the above verses it can be argued that religious freedom and the absence of compulsion in religion requires that individuals be allowed adopt a religion or to convert to another religion without legal penalty , Hence the death penalty is not an appropriate response to apostasy . I fail to see the connection bewteen the verses above and the conclusion of complete legality of apostacy without any penalty. Islam, means submission to Allah swt, it is a binding covenant between man and his Maker, it entails total submission, and allegiance, and following of its teachings, Apostacy constitues breach of the covenenat, and contempt of the veru Sharia law that Syed is arguing for the protection of the Apostate. What needs to be asked is, how can any law protect a person who has declared contempt to revealed foundations on which that law was based? Brother Syed argues: The former Chief Justice of Pakistan, SA Rahman, has written that there is no reference to the death penalty in any of the 20 instances of apostasy mentioned in the Qur'an . Pakistan is a secular country, not governed by Sharia, the chief justice is not the authority for this ruling, I think he overstepped his authority, its the Ulema in Pakistan who should clarify this. Brother Syed argues: Muslims who support the death penalty for apostasy use as their foundation the above cited hadith, in which the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said: "Kill whoever changes his religion." But this is a weak foundation because this hadith was only transmitted from Muhammad (pbuh) by one individual. It was not confirmed by a second person. According to Islamic law, this is insufficient confirmation to impose the death penalty. The Shari`ah has not fixed any punishment for apostasy . More fallacies, The Ummah accepts Hadeeth Al Ahaad, its a minority among scholars who do not, its a Saheeh category, not a weak based hadeeth. The Sharia unanimously sets death penalty for an apostate after being given reasonable time to repent, no one in his right mind should forgo to at least save his skin by claiming that he repented while concealing bis disbelief, but when that person fights for his right to declare and practice his disbelief, one wonders about his motives. Brother Syed continues: The hadith is so generally worded that it would require the death penalty for a Christian or Jew who converted to Islam, This is obviously not the prophet's intent . I am sure that Syed did not bother to read this verse, if he did, he failed to understand. A group of the people of the book conspired and said "Convert to Islam in the early part of the day, and become apostates at the end of that day, so that (Muslims) becomes apostates (like us), and do not believe (in any Mulsim) unless he is following our faith, say (O Muhammad) guidance is (ONLY) the guidnace of Allah SWT . Brother Syed claims: There is no historical record, which indicates that Muhammad (pbuh) or any of his companions ever sentenced anyone to death for apostasy. There are many, please refer to the hadeeth about Omar killing a Muslim who refused ruling in favor of a Jew by the Prophet, the Muslims refusal constituted apostacy, and was killed for it. Brother Syed argues: The issue of killing a murtad or the apostate is not a simple one. Scholars have debated it from various angles and it is not simply an issue of killing someone for choosing one religion or another . He is right this time, I was wondering why he was simplyfying it all along. Brother argues: The question of apostasy has been debated among scholars based on their interpretations of some hadiths since the Qur'an does not specify any worldly punishment for it. For example, there was a case at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) where a man came to him in three consecutive days and told him that he wanted to apostate. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never took any action against him, and when the man finally left Madina, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never sent anyone to arrest him, let alone kill him. This hadeeth is new to me, but on the face of it, if an Apostate is leaving the community to live outside without any plans to wage war against them, it makes sense to leave him alone. Punishment has a reason, which is to protect faith, if faith is deemed secure, judgement is left for what fits the revelation best while securing the contiuation of our faith. In conclusion: In matters of Sharia in Islam, the bases are the Benefits against Losses, The Sharia came down to uphold common good, and help increase it, stop evil and help decrease it, when two goods are competeing, the better good is choses against the lesser good, when two evils are competing, the lesser evil is chosen, for that reason, the Sharia is Dynamic, its first priority is self preservatiuon, no one can argue to use Sharia to abolish Sharia, opening the door for mockery without penalty could make it possible for allowing non Muslims to convert to temporarily marry Muslims women, and then apostate back after they have tried "Muslim" women as the case in Canada when a convert confided to a friend that he converted to Islam just to try a Muslim woman, other motives could be more severe, unless the Sharia activates controil mechanisms for protecting the faithful, Islam will be made a joke just like Christianity and Judaism, next thing will be for some enlightened "Muslims" to argue for the acceptance of other lifestyle based people to be accepted as full members of the community. To Be contiuned......................................................................................... An in depth scholarly essay to show the consensus of the Ulema about the Apostacy phenomena, coming soon to a monitor near you. Nur

Amethyst walaal you write: Nur, what credentials do you have for ur rebuttal to be valued any more than Mr.PhD? The issue at hand is a question on Sharia's stand on the ruling of an apostate ( Murtadd ) in Islam, to answer this question , I have never suggested anywhere on mu post that anyone needs a qualification such as a PhD, my objection was that the writer of this article misleadingly have used a PhD in a scientific field to get credibility in a Sharia issue I find him ill prepared in a scholarly way. My suggestion was for him, like myself, not to use any titles other than our own names or scree names as we are laymen. I will rebutt, the issue, just like Og Girl has done in an isightful way, neither she, nor I for that matter need credentials to rebutt as this is a discussion forum, what i objected was for someone to post a PhD infront of their name, when that PhD was earned in a non relevant issue. In this discussion forum, I do not claim a title other than being a businessman, I am in the business of helping others understand complex issues in a simple way, and in that direction I am striving. Nur

Nomads I avoided opening this page for a while, I was suspecting that it is going to be a controversial issue that will beg my thin energy and time, and since I was involved in other writing activities, I did not have the heart to open more intellectual fronts than I can bite, but seeing that this issue is on the front burner for a longer time than anticipated, I looked into it, interesentingly, the article was presented by a notable like Professor Ibrahim Syed, a heavywheight in scientific research and Muslim activism, I decided to shed a light (Nur) on the merit of his article alone, and its repercussions that he did not address. Dr. Ibrahin Syed is an accomplished person, and a Muslim activist, May Allah SWT reward him for his good work and forgive him for his misjudgements, ethically speaking though, one must never use a secular science achievement title such as a PhD. to speak on specialized Sharia Issue, so fundamental as this as he is not qualified to be an authority in this field nor an authority in the Arabic language as the medium of the treansmission of the Quraan and Sunnah, I kindly suggest to the brother in the future to present his articles as authored by a layman in Islamic knolwedge, because it is very unethical to use a PhD earned in a purely scientific field to present a lengthy article in aqeedah to sound liuke an authority in such a specialized field. The aqeedah field of Islamic sciences, requires a thorogh knolwedge base on 1. Quraan Tafseer ( Interpretation) 2. Science of Hadeeth ( Cilmul Hadeeth) 3. Usuul al Sharia ( Maqaasidul Sharia) 4. Arabic Language ( Grammar, Nahw, Sarf, Balaagha, and Poetry) 5. The Seerah, and the reasons behind the revelations ( Asbaabul nuzool, and the backgrounds of the hadeeths) In contrast, Dr. Syed is an educator and is a Professor of Nuclear Medicine and a Clinical Professor of Medicine (Medical Physics, Nuclear Cardiology, Endocrinology, Metabolism and Radionuclide Studies) all at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He is an activist who lectures to communities, visits jails, he is a licensed marriage Qazi, and he has deffinetly spent a good part of his time studying Islam, and working for its cause, may Allah reward him for his efforts, though I doubt that it is not as structured as his secular scientific education. His achievements in these areas show that he has earned recognition and acclaim, however, his article on Appostacy did not live up to the level of expected thoroughness neither the accepted scholarly research and impartiality a scholar should display to earn the trust of his readers. After reading the article on Apostacy in this page, one is left with the impression that the author has collected supporting evidence to a preconceived opinion he formed as a result of his desire not to offend the non Muslims he lives with, and to quell the orchestrated media barrage against islam, which drives any Muslims if not careful, to look for expedient novel fatwas, and then to claim it to be the main stream opinion on the matter, very simplistic indeed, but very devastating to the very foundations of the faith we call Islam ( Surrender To Allah) not to fellow man. Although I was not a member nor qualified to be, of the committee that reviewed his research and his Scientific Doctoral thesis which he is leveraging as an expert witness here, the way he presented the different viepoints would have have failed if it was an actual scientific research paper. I must clarify that i am not in no way criticizing his intentions, I believe they are very noble, but his presentation of facts, and hence his conclusion leaves a lot to be desired. As the moderator of this page, and as a Senior Nomad of Somaliaonline, with the help of Allah SWT I shall, clarify the disturbing ambiguities that Dr. Ibrahim Syed has left on the minds of Nomads on this site, specially, Viking, the most open minded Nomad, whose role as the advoclate of all new concepts have helped bring out a lot of my intuitive energies to the frontline in defense of an embattled faith between ignorant followers on one hand, and scholars with questionalble sincerity, as they write their articles in the comfort of their non Islamic homebases, away from the scrutiny of the Islamic authorities residing at Muslim countries. I will post the rebuttal once finished inshAllah, support me through your prayers duaa. Nur

Ukhti Where in my statement: Our problems emanate from our failure to address these issues from the point of our rich heritage which we have ignored to classify as a body of knowledge to govern the lives, wealth and the managment of Muslim's lives at these difficult times . Where in the above Statement of mine do you read that i suggest an uprising against rulers? Please be objective in your responses, I have no where in my posts ever suggested such thing, for you to say that is to confuse readers about my principles, and its not fair. Nur

e- Nuri Softwaano Series Presents An Eye Opener The Blind Old Man Who Showed Me The Way . I measure my life in terms of how useful I am to others, as a tax I pay to Allah SWT for granting me health, wealth and wisdom to appreciate and thank Allah for it. Being useful to others could mean hardships, but if one can see past the present life, and yearn for the next, happiness can be found in unlikely places. One foggy rainy day, I got out of a long busines meeting with my business associates, I was tired, but fulfilled, I wanted to reward myself with a nice evening, to relax at home and my one wish in my mind was just to go home to rest. As I emerged from the office building and strolled down the street to a rather far parking lot ahead, I came under a heavy down pour, it was raining and cars were splashing water around, so I carefully tiptoed to avoid plunging my Italian leather shoes in the water filled potholes, I rushed toward my car, after a few minutes of walking just when I thought I was about to get to my car, an old man approached me, "excuse me" he whispered, " can you take me to the XYZ airline office?" asked the old blind man. Interstingly, the airline office was in the same building that I've just left few block down the road, a rather long way back in a messy rainy day. I patiently took his hand and walked back with him, this time around I walked slowly to the opposite direction to where I was going, it just dawned on me that going back was actually going foreward in real terms, here I am helping a fellow man who is deprived of his eyesight, how many people realize the value of this gift? and do we contemplate the wisdom that going slowly with others toward their direction is sometimes going fast foreward toward your right direction? two great lessons that I learned from the old blind man that day which were well worth my trouble that day, lessons that were so insightful, it took a blind man to show me the way, the way to please Allah SWT, just like how Our Prophet Muhammad SAWS was criticized for turning away his attention from a poor blind man seeking knowledge who approached him while meeting with notables of the town. As I walked with the old man toward the airlines office, I kept thinking of his condition, his inability to go where he pleases when he pleases, his dependence on assistance of others, his slowness, and the fact that not many people were willing to stop and help such a needy person. The few minutes that I walked with the old blind man, were blessed minutes in which he taught me countless lessons of the value of sharing of our health and wealth with those less fortunate than us, I walked with him, and every step was a step toward Allah SWT as the prophet SAWS taught that the most loved to Allah SWT is the most helpful to his fellow man, I walked slowly with him as he could not walk as fast as i could, but the speed of thoughts that were crossing my mind were faster than the traffic around us, my sight was no longer set on taking him to the airline office and going back to my car afterwards, I found a purpose waiting for me in this slow walk, and my inner sight took off to the the hidden meaning of life, that our happiness should be measured with the positive difference we make in the lives of other disadvantaged fellow humans, and if we are unable, at least, we should seize our evil intentions of inflicting pain and misery on people. The moral of the story 1. Show The way to others to find yours 2. Go the opposite way, to find hidden treasures 3. To go fastforward in life, go slow for others Nur 2005 eNuri Softawaano Series

e-Nuri Softwaano Series Presents Three Most Important Daily Tasks Our Final success at the end of this temporal life depends on the collection of little success we achieve on a daily basis. Our self worth and happiness greatly depend on achieving worthwile goals on a daily basis, the day that we achieve all that we have set out to achive we feel fulfilled and happy, while some other days, everything goes terribly wrong. We wonder, why? the answer is simply that we are earning the fruits of our choices at every point in our life, no one plants an orchid to reap a thorn. The reason we fail in life is due to our failure to achieve milestones toward our goals, and in turn, to get to these milestones we need to carry out specific tasks that get us to the lamp post, not only to lean on the street lamp post, but also to see with its light further toward where we have to go next in life. As Muslims, the day we realize our mission on earth as teenagers, the clock begins to tick, angels begin recording our intentions, words and actions, Allah SWT says " Wa an leysa lil insaani illaa maa sacaa " " There is no result waiting for mankind except for the fruit of his/her efforts . Allah SWT adds " Wa anna sacyahu sowfa yuraa, thumma yujzaahul jazaa al awfaa " ( Mankind's efforts shall be weighed, and then he/she shall be rewarded the most befitting reward " Does it ever occur to you that two Angels are assigned to gather the data that ends up in your final record? thats right saxib, they are not waiting by intersections to see who is running red lights, they are in every car that passes and on the shoulders of every passenger. But luckily, they dont evaluate our actions, Allah SWT does and Allah is merciful, can you imagine if your " friends " were delegated for weighing your actions, worse yet, how about if other members of competing Islamic group that you always disagree with were delegated to reward you?. Sigh of relief, that no one but Allah SWT is weighing your deeds, and no one else is delegated to reward you, but my dear Nomad friend, shouldn't we then think of Allah SWT more often? Its Allah that created you in the first place, and it follows that Allah AWT guides you to live up to your purpose in life, because Allah SWT is wise, he sent multimedia messages, such as through prophets, revelations, and thorugh your conscious, He constantly shows you the way you are bent on ignoring, signs you ignore and warnings you seldom heed, so what happens... " I went to sleep with gum in my mouth, and now, there is gum in my hair, and when I got out of bed this morning, I tripped on the skateboard, and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible , no good, very bad day " Alexander and the terrible, horrible , no good, very bad day By Judith Viorst. Well, Alexander's day is renewable, he can learn from it, by not sleeping with chewing gum in his mouth, and by organizing his room, to avoid tripping over his skateboard, but imagine, if that morning was the first day of the next life, when there is no room to make up our mistakes! when you know that things can only get worse from there on, with no way out, and its not a bad dream, it is the real thing, and its not Coca Cola. The number of things that can happen to mess up your life are countless, no one can possibly think of all of them, and it takes only one thing to set the stage for the domino effect of Alexander's day. Don't you believe that a vision alone can't chart your life to success, like pole vault athlete, if you don't jump with the proper foot, at the right speed, there is no way you can clear the hight you envision in this life and the next. Now, don't feel helpless, there is a sure help, a one stop shop, but like my teacher once told my class, that on the average 5 % of students in the class who are present will go against instructions to fail, its not that they were not warned, its their choice and fate. As much as we strive in this life term for achieving our short term ambitions, it should never blind us of our eventual return to Allah AWT. Our life on earth should not be viewed to be separate from the continuum march to our eventual encounter with our creator and our past, and hence our final appraisal and retirement. Based on the above, we need to make a daily habit that aides us and focuses our energies, and, personally I found this in: 1. Rememberance of Allah 2. Rememberance of Allah 3. Rememberance of Allah That simple? that's right, so why do you have put up with the difficult life you find yourself in?. You see Dear Nomad, and I hope that you don't get mad, your miseries are all deeply rooted in your deliberate ignoring of Allah SWT in your actions and words, did it ever occur to you that something you've said thoughtlessly or a wrong jesture earned you of a misfortune? our miseries are actually wake up calls to go back to Allah SWT, but because we are so sophistocated, we read misfortunes the wrong way, that we have bad luck in life, nothing could be farther from truth, Allah SWT says that misfortunes happen to you for two purposes: 1. That Allah SWT loves you, through your misfortunes, he is guiding you toward Him. 2. That you are paying the price of ignoring Allah's comandments. So, by making the remembrance of Allah SWT a core task on your daily to do list, you can expect the following benefits: 1. Less misfortunes ( as the rememberance of Allah SWT wipes your sins, thus forefeiting you punishment and misforrtunes) 2. More wins and achievements ( The rememberance of Allah SWT draws goodness, health, wealth and general wellbeing, even in the face of difficulty, you will be able to smile with dignity) 3. People around you begin to like you ( because the rememberance of Allah SWT guides you to say good words, do good action and be kind and tolerant which earns you their respect) To be continued ........................................................................................ Nur 2005 e-Nuri Softwaano series Bridging Gaps Of Understanding

Rahima sis Your write: personally want to read about them all so could you please re-consider your offer. As always we will make duca for you after every and each topic That is an offer I cant refuse, Specially in these days, I need a load of Duaa, please don't wait up until AFTER read this time, give me a line of credit, make a Big Duaa for me BEFORE reading so I get the strenght of completing such task. Ball is in your court, let me know when you send the Duagramme to the heavens, it makes me goin and goin like the energizer. Meanwhile , lets hear from other reer Guraa. Nur

Ukhtii Al Muslima Politics is translated as Siyaasa in the Arabic Language, it means running the affairs of people according to a set of agreed upon guiding principles. For Muslims, the guidin principles for running their affairs is the revelation, not human wishes and desires alone. Running the affairs of people as an institution is not tackled as a Fiqh issue by Muslim scholars today. For example, how many books have you heard written on this topic by Islamic scholars, and in contrast, how many books are written on other topics? our problems emanate from our failure to address these issues from the point of our rich heritage which we have ignored to classify as a body of knowledge to govern the lives, wealth and the managment of Muslim's lives at these difficult times. you ask what do I mean when I write: Some of these scholars, while trying to solve such plight the Muslims face have succumbed to pressures to the point of compromising on rock solid Aqeedah principles after they have forgetten to account for fundmental basics of our faith, worse yet, some scholars have adopted outright ( Bidcah ) innovations as a solution to the Muslim plight which conflicts with the fiber of our faith . I meant that as a contrast to the Salafi approach of caution, some neo Muslim thinkers have made a sizable mistake while trying to find solutions to Muslim problems of politics and government, Against the clear directives of the Sharia, they have participated secular legislative organizations for the sake of bettering the conditions Muslims live in while paying a heavy price of agreeing that Tashreec ( The right to make laws) belongs to the people as the sovereigns of their destiny, which is the secular interpretation of government. Wallahu Aclam Nur

Viking Bro. Y've made a convincing argument for your point, the issue at hand is an age old controversy, the explanation that I feel comfortable with is the following: The faculty of the mind that provides the thinking process is the basis of accountability, ( MANAAT AL TAKLEEF ), and as I have written, Allah SWT advised His servants throughout the revelation to THINK! because when the right logic is followed, we all reach the TRUTH in all issues. It is only when we use warped logic or ommit key facts out of IGNORANCE that we end up with weird conclusions. The ignorance could well be of the unseen ( Al Ghaib ) Facts beyound the human minds comprehension, which Allah SWT revealed throughout the revelation,AL GHAIB or the unseen, if not taken to account, one can make a monumental error of judgement, for example the israa and al Miraaj were events beyound the comprehension of our minds. Many of the Hadeeths reported about the Prophet SAWS fall in this category, to question such events is only advisable if we are after the authenticity of such reports, I mean verifying if indeed the Prophet SAWS has said such a hadeeth. If the line of narration classifies such a hadeeth to be saxiix, we then accept it if it is in line with the Quraan, and leave the interpretation to Allah SWT. If the hadeeth contradicts with the Quraan, we then take the Quraan's interpretation unless the Hadeeth has been proven beyound doubt that it nullifies a prior order, ( NAASIKH ) However, if such a hadeeth requires that we carry out certain actions, questioning its validity is a natural outcome and many scholars have differed on it before, however, depending on the supporting background, the Quraan is ususally followed while we adhere to hadeeth at best effort basis. For that reason, the problem facing Muslims today emanates from the lack of knowledge of the Usuul al Shariica or the basis of legislation also known as the science of the moral of the law. The moral of all Islamic law is: 1. Empowerment of Justice, no one can use Quraan or Hadeeth to defend injustice 2. The Protection of Faith ( Including the right of non believers to practice their faith ), 3. The Protection of the intellect and the Mind itself as the basis for accountability, the mentally challenged are not accountable for their actions. 4. The Protection of Human life, No one is allowed to use the Quraan or Hadeeth to end human life unless its proven beyound doubt that such a person is endangering the very existence of life. 5. The Protection of human dignity 6. The protection of Property 7. The Protection of the environment that supports life on earth. Any logic that violates the above basis for Sharia, is not in line with the intentions of the law, thus it is rejected. Nur

Sheherezad sis MaashaAllah, I just came across your writup, and girrrrl! was it a trip! imagination is the greates gift Allah SWT gives to us, when our eyes close, we can see with our other eyes, those of the imagination, and its amazingly free of charge. As a kid Dinasaurs triggered my imagination, then, it was Quasars, the vast Universe, these close encounters with the unseen helped me grasp the greatness of Allah SWT, his wisdom and splendour, Allah is the light of the Universe, later I developed love of sailing and the ocean, this time my dreams came true as i could actually sail and dive beneath the torquise blue waters to feed the fish below, its peaceful and serene down there, no sounds, just bubbles on your ears, it feels like I can defy gravity and hover over large corals with colorful crustacians, I then set my feet on the sea floor to make Zuhr prayers, what a fun wallahi, it felt like the Appollo 11 landing of the moon, I couldnt keep my balance as my head was not falling fast enough to make the sujuud, I almost performed a somersault flip, but I struggled to keep my forehead on the sea bed, once I was done, it was a dream came true, Allah Akbar walillahil Hamd, ther I was with fellow creatures who were busy going by their daily lives, looking for food and curiously getting close to see who I was, a barracuda scared me off, divers call it the mad dog of the sea. Talk about death, at 40 meters below, and the need to contiously inhale and exhale, any mistake or panic can mean sure death, but Alhamdulillah, I never thought about it, my adrenaline was flowing for the thrill. Nur

Ukhtii Al Muslimah you write: I will say Nur mashallah with the intellects may have especially in the world of business, but yet you are lacking the correct knowledge of our ulmas otherwise you would not have said any of this fabrication, I don’t know what you read or heard or however you came about to say such a lie. Dear Sister Your language does not befit that of the tolerance of the Salaf al Salix you claim to follow, the word fabrication and the word LIE are rather too strong statements if you do not have the following: 1. Clear Evidence of well known TRUTH on the subject that all Muslims agree on. 2. Clear evidence that I have maliciously ignored the TRUTH beknown to me and chose to tell a LIE instead with intention to mislead. That is the sufficient and necessary judicial proof for accusing a person of a LIE, if you fail to produce such an evidence, the Sharia classifies my words as a different point of view on the subject, and your words are thus deemed to be a blatant Slander against a fellow Muslim. A Muslima is not allowed to slander fellow Muslim, this is for your benefit my dear sister. You write: " Our scholors adhere to a manhaj in aqeedah (creed), a manhaj in da'wah (calling to Allaah), a manhaj in enjoining good and forbidding evil, a manhaj in how to judge between people. This manhaj, in all situations, was based upon the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of our Messenger. I repeat manhaj in all situations including politics, business, scientific enquiry, social change, government, law and justice. Dear Sister: That is wonderful, my search for a clear non ambiguous Method in all spheres stops as soon as you publish the specific Manahaj of your scholars( A Manhaj that can only mean one thing with no room for difference among the ulema ) . Your efforts will win you a great reward from Allah SWT if you take the trouble to help viewers with the presentation of such ultimate Clear Manhaj for solving all of Muslims present problems. Please share with us the sources, so that I can share with Nomads that there is such a clear-cut Manhaj available for Muslims. You write: Through your writing we have come familiar with certain scholars and their works If you believe in all the negative stuff you said about the scholars then why do you use their work through your writings? Dear Sister: As for my presentations of some of Muslim scholars' works to substantiate as daleel, its because I have the highest respect for them, I have learned a great deal of knowledge from some of their works, and I do not consider their contributions to belong to any specific group, so I freely use and quote if need be, simply because no human has monopoly on being right all the time. As for your claim that I have injured their reputation, please be kind enough to point out a single negative statement I've said about the person of any of the Scholars, I will thank you for it if you present such proof, and further, I will gladly remove the statement and pray Allah SWT gives you reward for it and forgives me for my mistake. Sister, I find your response very combative, you come across as vengeful for something I fail to understand, the way you have chosen your words show contempt and disregard for the akhlaaq of discussion, please choose the right words to deliver what you mean without throwing unfounded accusations right and left, its only an advice if you intend to do this for the sake of Allah SWT. Lastly, your fervor for the defense of the scholars is unwarranted, the scholars are humans, they can make mistakes just like the rest of us, their mistakes if not checked by the sources of Quraan and Sunnah can be devastating since some people follow them blindly, Only the Shia believe that their Imams are infallible, we on the other hand follow the Quraan as the infallible word of Allah SWT, we also learn the interpretation of the Quraan from the Saxiix ahaadith of our Messenger Muhammad SAWS, given those two, we do not follow anyone blindly, if the daleel presented by a scholar is right we follow that, if not we are at freedom to seek the right interpretation from any source we find convincing, there is no specific club of scholars who are above scrutiny and are always right on all subjects, and there is no single gate in paradise reserved for them and their fololwers, all Muslims will stand in front of Allah SWT one by one, not in groups, and those who have followed the Prophet SAWS Sunnnah and Allah with sincerity will be given the Shafaacah by Muahammad SAWS, and not by any scholar, Allahumma Salli Cakaa Sayyidinaa Muxammad, wa calaa aalihi wa saxbihi wa sallim. Note: Although you and brother Salafi Dawa are defending the Dacwa Salafiya which I also consider myself a defender albeit with difference in approach, I would advice you to follow his method, its far more convincing, more substantiative and intellectually stimulating, I have learned from his last post, I can't say that about yours. Allahumma ihdinaa wahdi binaa katheeraa. Akhuuka Al Muslim Nur

Sheherezad sis Thanks for the good feedback, I was resassured many times that Nomads read these threads, but they may not be keen to post their thoughts. As for your case, Alhamdulillah that you have an internal struggle to force yourself to stay on the Siraatul Mustaqeem, for now, you like many other Nomads on these forums seem to be in the Nima state, which requires a great deal of shukr to keep it coming. Shukr comes in many forms, such as extra worship, helping of nthe poor or volunteering for Dawa work, take your pick. Nur

Sahal bro. Taqlid, or the following of a Muslim lay person of an Imam in Islam, is a controversial issue, there are more than one answer to your question each with a convincing track. My take on this is that one must first strive to know the basics well, and the concept of Tawheed and Shirk. Any detail after that is permissible to choose one of the Imams as your guide. Sheikh Sancaani is of the opinion that Taqlid is not permissible. Muslims he maintains are required to follow the religion with the criteria of knowing the sources of the faith and their meaning. For practical purposes though, following of any of the four imams is good for a lay prerson who may not have time and resources to seek the sources of the rulings on every fiqh issue. Wallahu Aclam Nur

i-Nuri Somaliaonline Syndicates Nomads As you have been accustmed to, Ideas to write about strike me on the run, my organizer captures these thoughts and once they reach chaotic levels, I offload them on this forum, I feel sorry for the Noamds who have to read all these thoughts, but again, its precisely for these Noamds that I write to share my insights with. in The next few days, I would like to right about three of the following topics, please pick your favorite three out of the ten topics. 1. Tampering With The Amazon Valley, and Women's Status in Society . Why we should preserve them. 2. Three Most Important Daily Tasks , without them, you will be lost all day, guaranteed. 3. Job Hunting? have a look at this Career , Satisfaction guranteed, no, you dont have to pay for referral fees. 4. The Dreaded Bidca, For the absolutely mentally Challenged . What you've always wanted to know about bidca, but were scared to ask. 5. So you've finally tied the knot, any idea how to manage your partner? Did it ever occur to you that the fun in marriage can end in the morning after? find out why. 6. Lets change the future , a person at a time. 7. Be Chaste, dont Chase or get Chased , benefits of going Islamic. 8. The Blind man who showed me the way , a fast forward lesson I will never forget. 9. Constitutional Anarchy, its high time Somalis to lead the world . If you have always felt at unease with the Nairobi Fistfight, this article will help you be proud of being a Somali. 10. An Ambassador From A Sovreign , open your heart to receive him. The topics are all unfinished, but your selection will help which topics I shoud finish first, its your call. Nur 2005 i-Nuri Somaliaonline Syndicates A Family Friendly Forum

Raula dadayangu You write: Originally posted by raula: [qb] Bismillah! Asalamu Aleikum waraxmatulahi wabarakatu. Nur How are the terms Kufr and Shirk very much different? Raula Dada Kufr linguistically means to cover a something, farmers are referred in the Quraan as Kuffar, because they cover seeds in sand to grow crops. Legally kufr means the denial of pre-programmed instinct of the belief in the ONE true God. Kufr can be different: 1. Kufr that is denial of confirmation of Nima ( Goodness given to us by Allah SWT) is called minor kufr. 2. Kufr that is the denial of Allah's authority over our lives is called Major Kufr. The first Kufr does not mean one who committed it is Kaafir, it means they committed a grave sin. The Second Kufr, is degenerate, it conflicts with the essence of our faith, that person is Kaafir without dispute. Shirk on the other hand means that one gives part of his allegiance to other than Allah, consdiders Allah as one of the recipients of his honoring and worship, considers others than Allah in matters that Allah alone should be considered. Shirk is a description of Kufr in action, while Kufr is the fundemental aqeedah of Shirk. Every Mushrik is Kafir, but not all Kyffaar ar Mushkriks, an example is although Jews are monotheists in worship to Allah alone, they are considered kuffaar for denying the messendership of Prophet Muhammad SAWS. While some so called Muslims commit Shirk by worshipping dead saints in their graves beleiving that these dead saints can save their souls. As you have noticed, The Shahaada terms are not understood by many present day " Muslims", their actions show how ignorant ther are about the Tawheed principle, because, Shahaada means witnessing of a fact, if the fact of the tawheed is fuzzy in their perception, how can they become witnesses? You write: How are the terms Kufr and Shirk very much different? In particular on the subject of the Quraysh who venerated LAT, MANAT, and UZZA (SANAM’s –Idols) to emulate Allah s.w. Dada Una ona dada, the worship of Allah is a natural instinct in all human beings, we are born with it, its our arch enemy Satan that corrupts this belief and drags mankind to comkit Shirk with Allah SWT. Satan is very resourceful, to lead mankind away from the right course, Satan follows the crowd until they take his adviced at which point he misleads them away to Shirk or Kufr. One of his tactics is to infringe on Allah's trade marks, Allah's creatures. Allah SWT says " Fala yughayirunna Khalqallah " " mankind will obey Satan by tampering with Allah's creations". This verse was revealed when the Mushriks deformed some of the animals and claimed that they were to be sacrificed to their dieties who they considered to be Allah's partners in worship. Trademark infringement for the purpose of stealing customers away from Allah SWT is one of Satan's tactics. Today, there are no physical idols that people worship in the Muslims world, does that mean that Satan closed shop in our Muslim land? Not really, Satan found other tricks to confuse Muslims to loose sight of their commitment to Allah SWT. The main motivation Satan uses for this job is terrorizing Muslims with poverty, and as a result he promises them wealth only if they adopt other ways of life that non Muslims have attained financial successes. By far this tactic is the deadliest in terms of its devastating power as only few people stand a chance lasting out this temptation. When you look at what a progressive Muslim mean, first we need to define which way are we to progress? Progress in terms of fulfilling which need? and the sponsor of such progress. You will be surprised to know that this hoopla of progress emanates from non Islamic philosophy that considers Islam as a not worthy way of life, hence any departure from islam is seen as a progress, the more one cuts ties with islamic principles, the more progressive one is seen. To be continued ......................................................................................... Nur

Salafi Dawa MaaShaAllahu Tabaarakallahu. Keep up the good work bro, your response to my post for my Ukhti al Muslima was well thought of, and presented, it was also pricelessly educational, the kind of arguments that many Nomads should read and learn a lot from, it was balanced in its approach, supported by reliable sources, it layed the foundation for a scholarly Xiwaar that has one goal, zero'ing on what is right. Please keep the pace, your contributions can shed a light on issues of the hour facing Muslims. Your article and that response from Brother Viking and your subsequent response to his post make up a differening points of view, yours is focused on securing Safety of following proven ways of the Salaf al Salix, his is focused on a search to add more glories to theirs so that we do not only sleep on the Salaf's great contributions. But everything comes with a price tag! yours comes short of empowering the most precious thing Allah SWT gave us, our Intellectual capacity, ingrained in the Quraan ( So they may reflect, Think in groups of two or three to ponder if Muhammad is mad? Do they have Qulub ( Minds)with which they fail to see (truth)etc. .) while the price of bro. Viking's search and freedom to think could lead to Bidcah if one is not careful. In the world of business which I am involved in, investors seek to invest their wealth to gain profit, however, its well known fact that as the potential of risk increases, many people opt out and only few dare to invest, those few, if they win against the odds , usually reap high profits because of teh absence of others sharing with them the market. Profit, as I came to know is the Grand Prize one is paid for enduring high risk for her money. So as risk ( likelyhood of a loss) goes down, more investors join the deal, which lowers the Prize. If we apply the above analogy to the approaches of Islamic scholars and their methods of the Salaf al Salix and the Khalaf, which is most of Muslims ( only the first three generations are considered Salaf ), we can deduce that the Salaf's approach to be a safe investment of our short live terms on earth, since it limited the Islamic thought of interpretations to those most trusted sources at the Salf's era ONLY. The safety feature in the Salafi method comes with an opportunity cost ( In economics Opportunity cost is the cost incurred by forgoing another option in ivestment ). That cost could be very dear if we do not think creatively ( which is a Big NO in Salaf's terms ), because as the human experience on planet earth evolves, we come across new boundaries of provocative problems and thoughts that were not faced by the Salaf at their time, new mind boggling realities are emerging that can not be treated with Fiqh solutions drawn for problems that exisited at the Salf's era, Aqeedah issues faced by the Salaf are no longer the same faced by today's muslims dealing with secular realities engulfing their freedom to practise their faith to its fullest( The Towheed of Asmaa wal Sifaat, versus the application of Sharia and Allah's ( SAMADIA) Sovreignty ), Secular and scientific knowledge has so much become specialized and well structured, while the corresponding fiqh of Islamic institutions from Zeituna, Azhar and Madina to Lucknow remained stagnant for ages without major breakthroughs. The Salaf's method which champions Safety as its core value, is thus seen as missing momentum of claiming leadership in light of the swift developments in the spheres of politics, business, sccientific enquiry , social change, government, law and justice, to the point that opponennets of the modern Salafi method accuse this , movement of turning a deaf ear or even collaborating with the terrible demise befallen the ummah and its deplorable resultant socio-econo- Judicial situation of Muslims worldwide. Hence, a new breed of Islamicc thinkers have emerged of late, mostly the product of many streams of the Islamic revival movements in the Islamic homelands. Some of these scholars, while trying to solve such plight the Muslims face have succumbed to pressures to the point of compromising on rock solid Aqeedah principles after they have forgetten to account for fundmental basics of our faith, worse yet, some scholars have adopted outright ( Bidcah ) innovations as a solution to the Muslim plight which conflicts with the fiber of our faith. All the while a small minority of this latent Muslim neo-thinkers are juggling between the two methods to reap the benefits of both, how to secure a safe aqeedah, and a practical solution for Muslims living their time and solving their present day problems in light of their faith, all under intense pressure of non Islamic friendly political entities that are forming barriers in their way and at times prosecuting them unfairly. As such, the terrain of Islamic activism is full of dangers lurking beneath, agianst a backdrop of lofty opportunities to make Islam the new wave of faith in the world. In such a dilemma, its only with wisdom and the Tawfeeq of Allah that we can meet our duty to Allah SWT while we best advance Allah's cause, and yet stay away of self inflicted wounds due to our own internal conflicts that have served as the main barrier of the advancement of Islamic cause. Nur

Ukhtii Al Muslimah This is a forum for Muslims to discuss issues that they have interest in knowing, they come from a spectrum of different upbringing in their Islamic education, they also follow different streams of Islamic thought. Disagreement comes in two two types, Iktiaaf Tanawuc, which simply means Difference of multiple ways of doind the same thing, and the Ikhtilaaf tadaad, difference of contradiction, which simply means that both idea can not be right since one point of view contradicts the other. Allah SWT says in Quran that if we come to differ on an issue, that we should refer to Allah SWT ( meaning the Quraan) and the Messneger ( meaning the Sunnah). Keeping the above in mind, you have written tghe following " we should connect to the people of knowledge to the ulama in the land of the muslim, we do not have any ulama in this country ." and your last statement was : so my brothers and sisters if u want to gain knowledge the last place one should go to is debates and argument since they are waste of time Now when you add the two statements, one can deduce that you are not fond of debating as a way of securing knowledge. Because you are clearly tying knowledge to a set of Ulema alone, which in itself may cause suspicion of your motives at best. In this forum, Nomads either share knowledge, or seek knowledge. There are others who have a specific narrow agenda of defining all of Islamic knowlege to belong to a specific set of Ulema, thus creating resentment and strengthening the division of Xizbiyah among the Muslims. The Ulema in the Arabian Penisnula have grown apart from the Ulema in Syria, lebanon ( Sunnis) and Egypt, all of them have excelled in certain area of islamic body of knowldge, and they have rightfully differed on major issues in Aqeedh and Fiqh, however one thing remains true, each person who logs on these forums is the product of the exposure to these streams of differing points of view, so the best way to benefit from such a forum is to respect everone's point of view and to support one's statements with agreed sources of Quran and Sunnah alone. Ikhtilaaf is a Sunnah ( nature) in mankind, it will contiune to exisit forever, but what is wrong is Tafarruq ( partying ways) or Xizbiyyah, which means loyalty to a specific Sheikh or Alim and congregating around one platform creating ( Us versus Them) in the Muslim ummah. Finally, you wite: If one is seeking knowledge then one has to hunt for the knowledge and not expect it to come to them That is true sister, but in our time and age, it is more convient to seek it in the internet, how many people do you know who can get admission to Madinah University or sit at the Halaqa of the Kibaar al Ulema at Deira Masjid in Riyad? For that reason, its equally wajib on Ulema to disseminate knowledge and use all available means to reach those who are seeking knowledge, after all, the Zakat of the knowledge is to share with as many people as possible. Again, if you have taken my response in a wrong way, rest asured I have the highest of respect for you, my intention was to keep this forum and others a source of knowledge for those who have no access to other more formal sources. Wallaahu min waraa il qasd. Nur

Ukhti Muslima You write: " so my brothers and sisters if u want to gain knowledge the last place one should go to is debates and argument since they are waste of time." I have no doubt that you have writen that statement with the best of intentions, I pray that Allah SWT reward you for your good intentions. However my dear sister, good intentions without a a good judgment of the statements we write on these boards can send the wrong signal to viewers if we are not careful. This forum and many on the internet are a sword with two edges, many poeple have gained a lot of knowledge in these forums, and many got confused, its more like the real life streets. Likewise, tehre is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding between the ulema themselves. So, what does that mean? it means that if you firmly believe that the best source of knowledge to be from the Salafi ulema only, why not invite them to this forum so we can benefut from their knowledge? you dont have to shut up this forum simply because your Ulema dont have time to share with poor ignoran Somalionline Nomads seeking a glimpse of knowledege. My advice Dont curse The Darkness, Light up a Lamp. Thats what I am doing here. Nur

Nomads Tawheed prinicple is simple, its natural, its compatible with common sense, while Shirk is a degenerate complex, a fallacy, a complex and artificial concept. Your thoughts are further solicited, so share your knowledge here. Nur

Rahima sis You write: So now brother Nur, you say that the Scholars of the salaf, deem it enough for a person to persist in an act of Kufr to become a kaffir, he/she does not even need to believe in it's legitimacy for them to be classified as such? Walaalo, the way to cure this aqeedah topic is dependent on your firm understanding of a timelessly useful arrticle I wrote many years ago, which since, I have reposted many times, the reason being that I tried my best to dig deep into the original Tawheed principles of Ahlul Sunnah wal Jamaaca before the corruption of latent groups like the Khawaarij and Murjia'a, Muctazilah and the like, and then simplify it for the lay person who does not have as much time as talabatul cilm al sharci. Please in case you have already had a chance to read that old post, please read it again. This time, please focus on your question about Istixlaal, I am sure you will get the answer within the context, if not, I will explain it in depth. In addition, pay a close attention to italicized passages and paragraphs and bold letters for clues to your question. Below is the text: Am I A Munafiq? Well, that is a difficult question, first let us learn the relationship between iimaan, sin and kufr to see where nifaaq belongs. 1. No Soul will go to Jannah which is not a Muslim(a) 2. No one can be Muslim without Shahaada (Tawxiid) 3. Shahaada is information, we are required to believe in and bear witness thereof. 4. The test to see if we indeed believe in information represented by the Shahaada are our deeds: So our faith is composed of a A. set of Information we are required to believe. B. Set of Commands we are ordered to obey The extent of your belief in the information that our Prophet SAWS delivered is measured by the extent of orders that we obey. In other words, our obedience to the orders of Allah, is a reflection of our belief in the information delivered to us. So , Islam is composed of a two sets: A) A set of information to be believed in, like Allah, Jannah, angels, etc . B) A set of orders to abide with, such as Prayers, (Salat), Fasting, Upholding Justice, etc . The orders are subdivided in to two categories: 1.Orders to do something 2.Orders to stay away from doing something If Allah orders us to do something, and we fail to comply, the reason could be: a. We do not believe in the information b. We believe in it but we are arrogant c. We are MENTALLY CHALLENGED If (a) that is clear kufr If (b) That is also kufr, the type of Sheitan If © We may be the same case like a crazy person, Mentally Challenged, no responsibility. If we are ordered to stay away from something, and we do not, we have the following scenario: a. We do not believe in the information b. We are arrogant c. We can not resist temptation d. We are MENTALLY CHALLENGED All but case © are covered above. If case © is the situation, then that is called disobedience (Sin)(Macsiyah) and it is what Adam and Eve , (Hawaa) aleyhimaa assalaam have committed. It does not make one a kaafir by itself. ( The Khawaarij are the only to claim that a sin can make one a Kafir ) To generalize the above. If a person does something he is ordered not to do, the driver is more likely weakness against temptation, and that person is not a kaafir, this is the case of Adam and Eve, Aleyhimaa assalaam . If a person refuses to do something he is ordered to do, the driver of his action is more likely arrogance, like the case of Sheitan . Now we visit a new territory: There is a principle for detecting iiman ( Faith) levels developed by Sheikh Ibn Taymiyah. Called (Talaazumul Dhaahir wal Baatin )( Synregy of the Apparent actions of a person with the Hidden Motives within the consciousness ) I will simplify it for you again. The inside beliefs and the outward actions of a person are always working in harmony. Except when an outside disturbance influences that person attention. When as a result, the outwardly actions of that person projects and acts contrary of what is supposed to be inside . Meaning. In Systems Science, when we input a signal into a balanced system, we observe an output that reflects the shape of the original signal output + the function of the signal that operated on the system. In the absence of outside disturbance, we can always predict the output. But when an outside element disturbs the system, the output will not be predictable. A person who is a kaafir therefore will normally act as a kaafir. Sabeelul kaafireen And a person who is a muslim will always act like a Muslim. Sabeelul Mumineen In general, if you leave anyone alone, what he/she does is reflecting what they believe . But the minute that person feels that he/she is being observed, that feeling will somewhat effect the action of that person. An example is when you catch a child making funny faces on a mirror the child will immediately alter his behaviour to an acceptable manner. This is called conforming. So, when a Kaafir lives with Muslims, he may act like Muslim, to avoid problems. He is called a Munaafiq . And a Muslim who lives with Kufaar may at times act like kuffar, to avoid problems. He is called Mukrah . Now, a Somali Nomad who lives in Somalia, USA or Europe, is free to practice his faith, so if that person does not practice, or he acts contrary to his faiths tenets, his actions are an indicators of what is missing in his heart. In this case the actions or their absence are an indictor of the iimaan inside that person. However a Muslim who lives in tyranny, his actions may not be indicator of his belief. Because, if this person practices his faith, he is afraid for his life. As a result this person conceals his faith portraying himself as non Muslim, when in effect he fully believes his faith and is willing tp practise it to the fullest if he was not afraid. His fear, though could be justifiable or may be unjustifiable, in which case he is in grave error. Allah says : Are they same he who spends all his nights praying and prostrating, alert for aakhirah, and the one who is in darkness..............................." Nasalu Allaha al caafiyah. Aamin Istixlaal A Somali aquaintance of mine once approached me with the weirdest request ever: He asked me if I could arrange his marriage ceremony with his Somali live-in girl friend. I gues in this time and age, we Somalis have come a long way from days we consdiered such living arrangements as non acceptable to even utter. Enter the twenty first century, oh boy!, do I feel a stranger in a fast paced world? I asked the guy, " why he wanted to go through the trouble of marriage if he is already living with the woman?" he said, " she is worried about her folks ", and that was the only consideration in his and her minds, they see absolutely nothing wrong with cohabitation. welcome to the Aqeedah principle of Istixlaal or (Banneysi) as brother Baashi put it. I declined NOT to get involved, but in the days that follwed that incidence, the discussion trigerred a yearning to read on aqeedah books about the ruling of such situations and people. I knew that humans are prone to sin, and that a sin is not kufr in itself but can lead to kufr, just like an ailment is not death but can lead to death, however, I wanted to know where is the borderline that divides a sin from blatant kufr. These days, amid the confusion and arguments about violations of islamic principles, we find that some Muslims would jump the gun on anyone to declare them a kafir without the blink of an eye, while on the other side, some Muslims would always find an excuse for anyone who no matter how extreme their actions or views are. Usually, when the latter group comes to the defence of a Sinner who commits a sin that is tanatamount to Kufr, they say that if the sinner who committed a Kufr action or said a Kufr word believes that his actions and words were not halaal, then he is a sinner not a kafir, on the other hand, theys say if he is unrepentent and believes that he did nothing wrong, then he is a kafir. The above classification is very popular among many present day scholars of the sharia, although there is no clear proof ( Daleel) from the Sharia, Quraan and the Sunnah to support such statement. The earliest recorded incidence in which such argument was used that i could find was during Al Qadi Ciyaadh's time when a man in Iraq was reported to have insulted the Prophet SAWS. The scholars at the time differed, some ruling that the man became a kafir for insulting the prophet SAWS, and others maintained that if the man considered his action to be halaal, then he was kaafir, if on the other hand, he believed that his insults were not halaal, then his insult is a sin. The problem with the above is that, the Qaadi Ciyaadh reported it from Mutakallimin ( Polemics masters) in Iraq who were not considered competent in Sharia at their times. Ibn Taymia in his famous book, Al Sarimul Masluul, says that the above classification has no oigin ( ASL) in Quraan and Sunnah. The Salaf of the Ummah are in consensus that if anyone commits an action that is in the Kufr category, that the person becomes a kafir, regardless if he claims his actions halaal or not, because the fact that the person is not repenting from his deeds is sufficient to prove that he considers his actions or words to be halaal. Because iimaan ( belief) and Kufr are abstracts, we detect their existence through their fruits; actions or words, so whenever an action that is deemed to be iimaan is done, the we say that person is Mumin, according to the Hadeeth that if a man is seen praying regularly in the Masjid, we should become his witnesses that he is a believer, likewise, if a person commits an action that has no other explanation other than being a blatant disregard of our faith, then that person is what he has said or does, we should not separate the crime from the criminal. In conclusion, if a person does an action that is Nifaaq, or kufr, then he becomes either a Munafiq or a kafir due to his actions, because iimaan is qowl and camal, deeds and words, and the words are further divided to words of the mouth, which require to be verified by actions, according to the Hadeeth, that iimaan is something in the heart, verified by deeds. Walllahu aclam. Nur Nur Complements of The Archives of e-Nuri and Company .

Maymouna sis Baarakllahu lakumaa ................................. Aqeeqa of a Newborn baby .............................. Aqeeqa linguistically comes from the root word Caqqa, which means when a child severes relations with parents,( Placenta is broken) in the Sharia context it means the sacrifice of a goat or sheep for the newborn baby on the seventh day of birth. Proofs for the legality of the aqeeqa tradition. It was reported by Samrah bin Jundub may Allah be pleased with him that he said that teh Messneger of Allah said " Every child is held us a pawn for his/her aqeeqa which is sacrificed on his/her behalf on his/her seventh day in which he/she is named and his/her hair is shaved" It was further reported that two goats are the sacrificial aqeeqa for boys and a goat for a girl. reported by Aisha RAA. : By Ahmed and Tirmidhi Important Information about Aqeeqa: 1. Niya or intention must be for sacrificing for Allah alone, no show off, or pleasing relatives. 2. Aqeeqa is a recommended rite, not compulsory. 3. The ideal time for aqeeqa is the seventh day of baby birth, the day is counted from Fajr adaan to sunset, so a baby born after the sunset adan, the day begins in the next morning, this is important as many Muslims make this common mistake in defining the day of aqeeqa. 4. Aqeeqa sacrifice is a goat, sheep, or a cow, no birds or chicken. 5. Unlike the Hajj sacrificial lamb or goat, the aqeeqa goat need not be perfect, no of those conditions apply, although the better the choice of scarifice the more preffered in the eyes of Allah SWT 6. When slaughtering the aqeeqa sacrifice, the same Bismillah applies like any other salughter, it should be said " Bismillah wa Allahu akbar" 7. My dear sister, the bones of the aqeeqa can be broken like any other slaughtered animal, and the hadeeth reported by abi Daud that forbids the breaking of the bones of the aqeeqa is Mursal, a subset of weak hadeeth 8. Aqeeqa is a worship ritual for Allah SWT alone, none of it should be sold for money, anyone who does sell, has not performed aqeeqa. 9. The family of the aqeeqa cerimony have the choice to eat, giving it away as a sadaqa, or as a gift. 10. If a child is born during Hajj, aqeeqa should be sacrificed separately as the two rituals are different. 11. If you dont have enough money to buy a goat, you are allowed to borrow the money if payment is easy later on, but not if its difficult. 12. There is no proof that you can give a sadaqa in the place of the sacrifice of aqeeqa, even if you pay more, aqeeqa can not be exchanged with sadaqa. 13. Holding of a lecture and explaining the aqeeqa and its rules or inviting Sheiks to give a lecture is a bidca that was not practiced before, its strongly adviced not to innovate. Prepared by Hafidatul Salaf Translated by Nur

President I am laughing my teeth off ( they are hanging loose after the fight in the Somali parliament in Nairobi Hotel ). You write: We demand a fully organized and interrelated entity to provide any service to us. We understand that you (Somalis) are segmented society that lacks the art of creative destruction Somali Anarchists provide a bumper to bumper destructive services, since we have destroyed two major cities, Hargeisa and Mogadishu, we have learned how to be our own enemy, you see President, we need not fear the Ethiopians for destrying Somalia, no one can destroy Somalia better than somalis, if you dont belive me, why not allow Ethiopian peace keepers come to Somalia, we will rob them and turn them to Anarchists, and when they go back to Ethipia, they will infest Ethipia with their new Anarchist skills, and from Ethiopia we will march to spread anarchy in all of Africa, then we will board ships from Morocco to land of opportunity, America, and you will find our anarchists hanging on your windows at the whitehouse. About our Namdic oratory culture, you see Mr. President, the reason we have so many interclan disputes is because nobody bothers to write any agreement, if we do, nobody will read, if we read, nobody will understand and if we understand, no one is willing to obey clauses against the interest of their clan. When we appear that we are obeying the law, its a mock tactic for buying time for next round of cheating. About our newly elected Presidents national tour in five provinces, it shows how our people love anarchists, rich Somalis fled to USA, and poor ones are enjoying what is left behind plus the foreign aid, the new President is a man who admitted that he fired the first bullet in our civil war, and offered that if we do not ellect him, there will be no more anarchy, how can we survive without Anarchy? our parliament is the only non elected parliament of Anarchism in the world, I am sure that you have seen how we set a great example for our people the other night when I lost four of my front teeth, i dont know how to smile anymore, i have nothing to smile with or to smile for . Cag Bakayle Nairobi, Kenya

Istixlaal A Somali aquaintance of mine once approached me with the weirdest request ever: He asked me if I could arrange his marriage ceremony with his Somali live-in girl friend. I gues in this time and age, we Somalis have come a long way from days we consdiered such living arrangements as non acceptable to even utter. Enter the twenty first century, oh boy!, do I feel a stranger in a fast paced world? I asked the guy, " why he wanted to go through the trouble of marriage if he is already living with the woman?" he said, " she is worried about her folks ", and that was the only consideration in his and her minds, they see absolutely nothing wrong with cohabitation. welcome to the Aqeedah principle of Istixlaal or (Banneysi) as brother Baashi put it. I declined NOT to get involved, but in the days that follwed that incidence, the discussion trigerred a yearning to read on aqeedah books about the ruling of such situations and people. I knew that humans are prone to sin, and that a sin is not kufr in itself but can lead to kufr, just like an ailment is not death but can lead to death, however, I wanted to know where is the borderline that divides a sin from blatant kufr. These days, amid the confusion and arguments about violations of islamic principles, we find that some Muslims would jump the gun on anyone to declare them a kafir without the blink of an eye, while on the other side, some Muslims would always find an excuse for anyone who no matter how extreme their actions or views are. Usually, when the latter group comes to the defence of a Sinner who commits a sin that is tanatamount to Kufr, they say that if the sinner who committed a Kufr action or said a Kufr word believes that his actions and words were not halaal, then he is a sinner not a kafir, on the other hand, theys say if he is unrepentent and believes that he did nothing wrong, then he is a kafir. The above classification is very popular among many present day scholars of the sharia, although there is no clear proof ( Daleel) from the Sharia, Quraan and the Sunnah to support such statement. The earliest recorded incidence in which such argument was used that i could find was during Al Qadi Ciyaadh's time when a man in Iraq was reported to have insulted the Prophet SAWS. The scholars at the time differed, some ruling that the man became a kafir for insulting the prophet SAWS, and others maintained that if the man considered his action to be halaal, then he was kaafir, if on the other hand, he believed that his insults were not halaal, then his insult is a sin. The problem with the above is that, the Qaadi Ciyaadh reported it from Mutakallimin ( Polemics masters) in Iraq who were not considered competent in Sharia at their times. Ibn Taymia in his famous book, Al Sarimul Masluul, says that the above classification has no oigin ( ASL) in Quraan and Sunnah. The Salaf of the Ummah are in consensus that if anyone commits an action that is in the Kufr category, that the person becomes a kafir, regardless if he claims his actions halaal or not, because the fact that the person is not repenting from his deeds is sufficient to prove that he considers his actions or words to be halaal. Because iimaan ( belief) and Kufr are abstracts, we detect their existence through their fruits; actions or words, so whenever an action that is deemed to be iimaan is done, the we say that person is Mumin, according to the Hadeeth that if a man is seen praying regularly in the Masjid, we should become his witnesses that he is a believer, likewise, if a person commits an action that has no other explanation other than being a blatant disregard of our faith, then that person is what he has said or does, we should not separate the crime from the criminal. In conclusion, if a person does an action that is Nifaaq, or kufr, then he becomes either a Munafiq or a kafir due to his actions, because iimaan is qowl and camal, deeds and words, and the words are further divided to words of the mouth, which require to be verified by actions, according to the Hadeeth, that iimaan is something in the heart, verified by deeds. Walllahu aclam. Nur

Sheherezad sis A great story, that kind of attitude is what won Islam the east ( Indonesia, Malaysia, India etc) and its precisely thats how THE WEST WILL BE WON, through goodwill, not contempt, dialogue and not confrontation, passive protests and not violent standoffs, because looking back at our Islamic history, our Prophets example shows how he dealt with those he was preaching at different times, places and situations, at any given time, he used wisdom, or best way to preach, Salvation of others and not revenge, being his central unwavering objective. Nur