Mansur al-Hallaj: The Sufi Manur al-Hallaj was born in the province of Fars in Persia in 858. ... He was the close follower of several well-known Sufis of his time, including Sahl al-Tustari of Basra, Amr al-Makki and Imam Junayd of Baghdad. However, later on, on account of his saying 'Ana'l Haqq', meaning 'I am the Truth', he was accused of propagating an unacceptable and dangerous religious claim, for which he was executed by the orthodox establishment in 922. From the surviving fragments of his work, we surmise that he was a Sufi intoxicated with divine love. His poetry is a very tender and intense expression of spiritual yearning and love. For example, he sang: "Kill me, O my trustworthy friends, For in my being killed is my life ." Love is, in fact, the central themes of Mansur al-Hallaj's prayers and sayings. Describing divine love, he says: "Love is that you remain standing in front of your Beloved: When you are deprived of all your attributes, Then His attributes become your qualities."" The later Sufis, until our own time, have quoted Mansur al-Hallaj as being the epitome of those intoxicated by divine love. Â His Most Memorable Statements: 1. ana'l -Haqq - I am the Truth. this is the saying which apparently earned al-Hallaj his martyrdom - al Haqq also means God ) 2. You know and are not known; You see and are not seen. (Akhbar al-Hallaj 44, 1.4) 3. Your Spirit mixed with my Spirit little by little, by turns, through reunions and abandons. And now I am Yourself, Your existence is my own, and it is also my will. (Diwan al-Hallaj) 4. I find it strange that the divine whole can be borne by my little human part, Yet due to my little part's burden, the earth cannot sustain me. (Akhbar al-Hallaj, 11) 5. I have seen my Lord with the eye of my heart, and I said: "Who are You?" He said:"You." " (Diwan al-Hallaj, M. 10) 6. I do not cease swimming in the seas of love, rising with the wave, then descending; now the wave sustains me, and then I sink beneath it; love bears me away where there is no longer any shore. (Diwan al-Hallaj, M. 34) Compiled By Nur

Sophist Bro. I realy missed this post of yours, I am sure that infamous letter caught your eyes later, it was the most traffic generating letter on SOL I have written, for good or bad, Nomad girls, single or married have voiced their concern, and many men, quietly following that discusiion, took a note, I hope that my posts have helped close some gaps. Thumbs up for your Somali Proverbs, I liked them, here is my favortite Proverm from the southern Somalia. 1. Nin ilaaheey heysto, iddeey diisa ma maqashid 2. Luuq luuq maroow, laamigaas ku soo dhacaa The first one is used for someone who has sinned so much, and who is paying the price of his sins without realizing it the second one is used someone who has a secret agenda when everyone else is transparent. Nur

Awakener brother First of all let me assure you that I am not here to boast or display any amount of knowledge that i have, that will clearly beat the purpose for which I am here. I feel that i am here because I am seeking Allahs forgiveness through my work, and to be grateful for what he has bestowed upon me of the Nima ( goodness) of Al Islam, a great Nima, my slavation lies in sharing what i know, my doom is not doing so,. Allah SWT instructed his prophet SAWS to: " Say, No one will rescue me from Allah's ( wrath) and further, I will not find a refuge from him, unless I take up the responsibility of transmitting ( balaagh) of his messages ( to mankind)" In that sense, I am here for my own salvation. Secondly walaal, as you have known me, an Alumni of Somalinet, I have tolerated all kinds of perverted views, yours have been the most respectable discussion that I have ever taken part of, and my record is that I allow all ideas unless they cross the decency level that we both agree on. So, a reader of your statement above may get the idea that i actually delete my oppnents points of view, which is not the case, may I therefore kindly ask you to remove it as to not to give wrong impression. Thirdly, I read your entire piece, Wallahi, from the outset, i do not have any fundemental difference with what you have written, contrary to that notion, actually parts of what you have written are so true and good, I cloudnt agree more with you, and to that effect I have dedicated one of my eNuri topics. You write: Remembrance of God gives us ascending effect in the spiral while forgeting God gives descending effect. Please read following link specially supporting your point: http://www.somaliaonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002175 As for the rules of the discussion: Because we have discussed before, each one of us knows the others point of view, which makes it easy this time round inshaAllah. My main point is that Islam is a set of Information Allah sent through prophet Muhammad SAWS, and a set of requirements against these information. So, If I answer your question, Muslim is an Arabic word from the root word, Salima, PEACE , Aslama, to SURRENDER, Muslim, therefore is a person who found PEACE by SURRENDERING to ALLAH, His maker. Allah SWT says in Quraan : Wa Man Aslama Wajhahu lillah wa huwa muxsinun faqad istamska bil curwatil wuthqaa. Meaning, He who has surrendered his WAJHAHU ( Facing Allah For Devotion, love, obedience) Has indeed succeeded in holding to the unbreakable link with( Allah) Allah SWT says, that unbreakable link is : لا إكراه ÙÙŠ الدين قد تبين الرشد من الغي Ùمن يكÙر بالطاغوت ويؤمن بالله Ùقد استمسك بالعروة الوثقي لا انÙصام لها والله سميع عليم ].256 [البقرة: No compulsion in Deen, ( Because) RUSHD, ( Rigt way) is now separate and clear as not to look like the GHAYY ( Wrong Way, lost way), so whoever distances himself from the KUFR which Rejection of RUSHD ( Right Way, and who instead believes in Allah's (WAY, Right DEEN), then that person has a good grip on the unbreakable knot ( Conection to Allah) Explaining that unbreakable link Allah says: وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا ÙÙÙŠ ÙƒÙلّ٠أÙمَّة٠رَّسÙولاً أَن٠اعْبÙدÙواْ اللّهَ وَاجْتَنÙبÙواْ الطَّاغÙوتَ ]ØŒ وقوله تعالى: We have sent to every nation a Messenger to : 1. Worship Allah, and 2: Stay away from Daaghoot ( any authority, living or dead, human, or inanimate) that takes the place of Allah in people's lives to compete for their love, devotion, respect, search of security) that they can only get from Allah SWT. So what is Daaghuut? Daaghuut is a superlative word from Daghaa , when something exceeds their limits, high ocean waves are said to (Daghaa), so Daaghuut is someone who far exceeded its limits and threshhold. For any person, object to claim to be in the place of Allah SWT, is the worst excess in judgement or limits, thus Allah SWT warned against Daaghuut, as a matter of fact, the rejection of Daaghuut is condutional to accepting Allah, anyone who has not rejected the Daaghuut, his iman is not aaccepted by Allah, because, you can not fill milk in a cup half filled with alcohol, takhliya, qabla taxliyah, one must evacuate their hearts from Daaghuut before attaching to that unbrekable bond of Allah SWT. Now, What does Al Curwatul Wuthqaa mean: That unbreakable bond, link with Allah is the eeverlasting word of Tawheed, No one is worthy to be taken in the place of Allah SWT, as a guardian, loved, protector, law giver, to be feared, to be given absolute obedience) So, from the above we learn that: 1. A Muslim is a person who has SURRENDERED to Allah, willingly. 2. Who has rejected Daaghuut ( any form of object that takes space inour hearts reserved for Allah alone) 3. Follows ONLY Allah SWT, making his model ( Sunnah) the guidance of His Prophet Muhammad SAWS. That is my resoponse for today, sorry of I got carried away, I am sure as a Sufi you understand what getting carried away means, no pun, waa kaftan walaal, no more. Walaalkaa Nur

Azmaya sis You write: "Allah Alone knows your heart and sincerty. if your work is to please Him Alone then continue with your works, we so need the likes of you. " Walaalo, The Prophet SAWS used to seek Allah's refuge from, A heart that does not submit to Allah SWT. A nafs that is so driven seeking worldly goods that it is never satisfied, and most imoportantly, " MIN CAMALIN LAA YUQBAL" a good deed that is not accepted, its is indeed scary when you think about it reasons why a good deed iss not accepted, foremost being lack of ikhlaas, that it was done solely in search of Allah's grace " Ibtighaa wajhi Laah" Again, Jazaakellah kheiran and keept it comin, wallahi its very valuable . You write: And i disagree with u walaalo, we shouldn't only follow the past scholars, but anyone who is caller to Islam-as long as that call is in line with Qu'ran and Sunna. And I wish the best for you walaalo. Azamaya sis, May be you misunderstood my statement, what I meant by following the dead, is a famous saying by the Ulima, " Man yastann, fal-yaqtadi biman maat, fa inal xayya laa yuman" meanining " He who wants to follow right way, shall only follow those who have died and were proven not to have veered off the right path, because, to follow foot steps of a living person, is risky in that we dont know if he/she will change his right ways, thus risk of being mislead if we are not careful. I hope that clarifies what I meant. You write: "Knowledge is everything, to say something without proper knowledge when it comes to religious matters is considered sin. You have good character walaalo, an attribute that is missing from many somali men, and I say kudos to u walaalo. Salaamz " Allow me to disagree with a big heart this time, walaalo, knowledge is not everything, according to a hadeeth, a man who asked the Prophet SAWS how to be most knowldegeable person, he was instructed : ITTAQILLAAH, Guard your duty toward allah, You will be the most knowledgeable, also it was reported that the prophet SAWS said, The fear of Allah is the best wisdom. What I meant by those two, is that we do have many people with knowledge of the books, if you read the quraan, Allah refers to them as a donkey carrying books, because the requirements for knowldege, is wisdom of how to use that knowledge, and that wisdom invariably comes with the fear of Allah SWT, again Allah SWT says, " As for those who have struggled in our casue, We shall guide them to our paths" meaning that like you have said earlier, sincerity, weighs a lot against plain knowledge, and that useful knowledge comes with TAQWA. Wallaahu aclam. STOIC I think that the sister justified what she meant by herd, she maintains that it was just meant followers, not a demeaning remark, as a Muslim, I think, we should accept her good Niyah, because the reason for which she said that remark to begin with was to protect people from following the wrong person or knowledge, which is very commendable, so if on the way of doing that she has stepped over your toes, it would count for you to see her intention, and overlook the remark that she has distanced herself from, agai, its your right to get clarification, mine is a brotherly advice. Nur

Nomads A tough aqeedah question for you: We know that Laa ilaaha Illa Allahu, Muhammdan Rasuulullahu is the first Pillar of Islam, and the key to Paradise. What happens when a person who says this word, yet fails to understand its meaning? Does it protect him from committing Shirk? Does it help him in the day of Judgement? This is an open book test, consult your local Sheikh. Nur

Azmaya sis Jazakellahu kheiran sis, and welcome to our family, islam page at Somaliaonline, inshAllah my goal is to make this virtual gathering the happiest on line discussion group. Walaalo, it was said that we should only follow dead scholars who we know that they have died on the right path, to follow a living person is quite risky, specially on matters of faith, because, missing an exit of a highway after being directed by a fellow motorist is not bad, but matters of faith, like you said are serious matters, and at times I feel so afraid of misleading others on this forum, that at times I think of quitting, then, I look around to see so much ignorance being shared as knowledge, and then I am back, and that was my condition since 2000. Omar RAA was reported that during his inauguration as Caliph that he asked the compnions : what would you do if I become a crook?" a companion answered " we shall straighten you up with our swords". Omar was so happy that he said " Alhamdulilah, who provided me with brothers who would straighten me up with their swords if I become a crook" Likewise, walaalo, never become complacent, what you did was indeed admirable, when you question people like that, only a fake will cave in and feel threatened, on the otherhand, people who know what they are talking about will always answer gracefully and will appreciate your verification of the facts. Finally, I have written up a piece specially for your question, please follow the link: http://www.somaliaonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002231 Nur

Old Timers Where in the blue is Sister Lateefah? I know she was about to tie up with a Nomad, did they spawn little anachists to keep them away fromSOL? Nur

Kheir bro. Alhamdulillah, Quraan is Shafaacah in Akhira and Guidance in Dunyaa. Quraan is soo comforting to read and contemplate, I wonder how life can be for a person who is deprived this joy? Nur

Dear Awakener brother My point is that we need to agree on the basics of islam, details can always be worked out. The basic fabric of Islam is the principle that states that no one should be worshipped but Allah. My point is that we both agree on that statment, but we diverge how we interpret it. So let us define the terms involved in that declaration; What is your interpretation of the term Ilaah? What is your interpretation of the term Ibaadah? In this discussion, once we define these terms and agree on it, the details will be easy inshAllah. Walaalkaa Nur

KHEYR Brro: Jazakallah KHEIRAN Khalaf bro. You write: With that said my brother, how do we confront those who say where is no verse in the Qu’ran that directly says a woman can’t lead a nation? Since there is no direct order against it, it can be open to interpretation? And what are the opinions of the 4 imams? I am sure this issue has been discussed by the different schools of thought. InshaAllah maybe this can be presented here. Salaam. Answer: If we indeed accept only DIRECT orders from the Prophet SAWS and Allah than, then either we have to drop a lot of implied rulings that make up Salaat, fasting etc, and also, abstaining from haraam, because there is no direct verse in Quraan making Zinaa haraam, the verse only suggests, Laa taqrabuu, dont get close to it, which implies do not do it, but not as explicit as the verse that prohibits eating pork, which clearly says its haraam. Those who are asking this DIRECT rulings are also looking for trouble, because if we ask them to accept and apply all direct rulings of teh Quraan, they will back up in no time, try them, ask them about the application of the Shariica, and see how quickly they switch gears to explain it away. The Sunnah is not only words brother, its a collection of words, actions, Lack of actions, prevailing ways of doing things, things the prophet SAWS approved by not objecting to it, etc. which collectively made up the living tradtion of the Prophet SAWS by example. Islamic history records that NO WOMAN has even been suggested as a Caliph after Prophets death, as the the Prophet SAWS died on Aisha's lap, there are clear hadeeths that predicted that Aisha was on the wrong side of a battle that was not for power but a rebellion to bring criminals to court, so her role was that of counterweight to Ali, the Caliph by those who wanted the Fitna to burn the nascent nation, but Alhamdulillah it failed. as for the hadeeths, i have written a complete primer on this great science, i am glad that all in a sudden that its an interest area of study, because, the more they dig it, the more they will face stark facts about how far we have drifted from oujr faith, which is good. The consensus ( Ijmaac) of all four imaams is that Al wilaayatul Kubraa the condition is the Waali must be a MALE, no one disputes that, however when it comes to JUDGESHIp, there are few voices that support a woman to hold the position of a judge again as a Qiyaas to the Witnesses, where clearly trhe Quraan mandates two women in the plave of a single man in witness stand. The main problem as I see is that it is impossible to understand the Islamic rulings when one is practically living in a non Muslim society, accepting its norms and ways, from a weswtern perspective, it would be fair if we compare apples to apples, but when we pick and choose, the comaprison looks awkward. In the current system most of us live, a woman is an attached, has her own place, no male guardian to look after her, her body is her business, she supports herself, so she doesnt depend on a amn for support, she picks them and dumbs them as often as she pleases, if she is unemployed, state pays her, and if she runs out of money, she can cross moral barriers, because religion is personal affair, she acts just like men do, children are cared in day care centers and the old are in nursing homes. From that perspective, I understand it is very difficult to explain the concept that a woman's molst important role to be raising kids, educating them and influencing decisions through her husband. Pink I agree, any decent Somali woman would be better off than these 9 guys ( Wa kaan fil madiinati tiscatu rahtin, yufsiduuna fil ardi walaa yuslixuun) Amelia If indeed your true intention is to establish islam on earth, an that you believe that women can lead the Ummah to such a goal, then, by all means i support your drive, all we have to do is to try and apply all of islamic principles that will make this ummah take its rightful places, the questioning of the authenticity of the Hadeeth is a poor tactic, because, Bukhari and others who founded the foundations on which this science stands were far more diligent than that woman, specially when she is relying on their own work as a reference, but still anyone is allowed to question a hadeeth, however, we should not pick and choose, islam is no Supermarket aisle, we take it as a whole, or leave it as a whole. inshAllah in the days to come I shall shed some light on the questions you have raised. Pi I am glad that you have shared with us an article of the woman you admire, an avowed femminist against the Sharia, after digging into her past, it was no surprise to find out where she was coming from, here is a good link for your favorite reseracher of islam: Please read Martin Kramer, Israeli writers piece on the "Muslim' woman http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/PoliticsandProphet.htm Selections For Reading: Politics and the Prophet The New Republic Can Islam and democracy be reconciled? The vexed old question has enjoyed a revival since January of last year, when Algeria's ruling party voided the results of that country's first free parliamentary election. The election gave an overwhelming mandate to the party of Islamic fundamentalism, whose most outspoken leader affirmed that "it is Islam which has been the victor, as always, not democracy. We did not go to the ballot boxes for democracy." There are some in the West who have tried to sweep such fundamentalist disavowals of democracy under the rug. They include not only apologists for Islam, but also engineers in the democracy foundations, for whom no job is too big. The masses vote for Islam, they admit, but really they want democracy; the leaders talk revival, but really they mean reform. Yet the fundamentalists continue to spin their indictments of dimuqratiyya as a foreign and superfluous innovation. "One does not vote for God," declared the same Algerian fundamentalist. "One obeys Him." Unlike many of the West's democracy doctors, Fatima Mernissi entertains no illusions about the fundamentalists. Mernissi, a feminist who teaches sociology at the Université Mohammed V in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, has seen them up close. And they have seen more of her than they would like — "an educated woman, unveiled, agitating in the street in the name of the Charter of the United Nations and against the shari'a," the revealed law of Islam. At times they have tried to smother her voice. Her earlier book, The Veil and the Male Elite, was banned in Morocco after its publication in France. In this newest statement from the front line of the cultural war, Mernissi has ventured beyond women's rights into human rights. Yet now that a generational surge of Islamic fundamentalism threatens to stuff the ballot boxes of the Arab world, this courage is also quite useless as a realistic guide to what should be done. Mernissi's point of departure is a dissenting interpretation of Islam's historical legacy. It is currently fashionable to argue that an Islamic civil society, born with the faith, survived and even thrived despite a rapid turnover of absolute rulers; that, under the tumultuous surface of politics, Islamic society maintained an inner harmony that lasted for a millennium, until the rude intrusion of the West. Mernissi will have nothing to do with this anodyne reading of history. She sees an Arab past marked by "incessant bloodbaths," and a present haunted by "the phantom ship of those who were decapitated for refusing to obey": Mernissi and the Arab liberals, in short, cannot escape the need for politics. Still, who cannot admire the pure flame of her own extraordinary humanism, and her refusal to compromise principle? This is a rare book, written from within the Arab world but without fear. It is dangerous to walk this path without minding one's back, but it is also liberating. © Martin Kramer Martin Kramer, "Politics and the Prophet," The New Republic, March 1, 1993. The article is a review of Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World, published by Addison-Wesley.

STOIC Walaal Excellent points, I was thinking the same way until i recieved a PM from a bother on this forum, I went back to lookj up at many sources that I can not reference here for previty, but the gist i get is that when we look back in Islamic Histor, the best generation lived in the first three decades, during the Caliphate of Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman and Ali. I must say that Aisha role was far different than any other woman during her time, she was the living archive of the Prophets tradition, from personal hygine to family affairs, our mother was a woman of piety and devotion to Allah SWT. What we can learn from Aisha during the fitna is that she was active in the community, she was protected by companions who regarded her as their mother, She had the title of the Mother Of Believers, and for that reason, her stand in the Camel battle was that of a just activist, although she was wrong according to the famous Hadeeth of the dogs barking which reminded Zubeir go back after realizing that he was on the wrong side of the battle. Anyway, the issue at hand is that our knowledge of the sunnah and Quran compared to the first generation is so limited, they were close to the time of the prophet SAWS, and their interpretation was much more in line than ours, since we are corrupted by non islamic idealogies that is mixed with our islamic idealogy, therefore, its my humble opinion that when Allah says men are Qawaamuun, that is what it means plain and simple. The pressure to put a woman on the highest office is not even practiced by those who preach, in recent times, Muslim countries have produced, a woman head of state, in Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonisia, when combined their populations exceeds that of Europe, yet, with all the lizard tears, the westen nations are run by men, serving lip service to women, while trying to impose what they have failed to implement on Muslims who have done their fair share against their will. One must ask, who is driving this womens agenda for the Muslim world, and why? Khalaf brother You know that no woman has assumed a head of state during the Caliphate that lasted for 1300, I know that latent Muslims went wrong on many occasions, and we are the worst breed of Muslims that lived, now, how can you justify that the worst newcomers to reform what the best of us , the companions have failed? Nur

e-Nuri Road Maps Presents: How To be Successful Are You Fit For The Purpose? That is right!, are you successful, because sucess is a measure of how much of a desired result you have attained within a given time frame. In school you learn that good grades are the ticket to success later in life, only to see, those despised in school riding high with better jobs and more prestigious social status than you the nerd. So, let us ask, are grades a measure of success? At work, in the corpprate world, it is monkey business, monkeys on a tree, the Corporate tree, fighting for bananas, some monkeys climb higher up on the corporate tree, other unsuccessfull monkeys struggle hanging with their tails on lower branches, way down the bottom of the tree, smart monkeys who made it to the top look down at monkeys on the bottom with pride as all they see are lowly smiling monkeys below, while monkeys on the bottom look up at monkeys on top and laugh as all they see is their naked rear ends. So, does that mean that the monkey who rides the highest branch and dies with the most bananas in his possession is the most successful? So, what is success? how do you measure success? Well, success is simply being fit for a purpose, if you are still undecided of the purpose for which you exist, I assure you with certainty that you will never succeed in life while in this state of aimlessness, because success is a vector quantity, it has direction as well as magnitude, without direction, no matter what quantity you base your success with, it will be hollow and you will feel a big void in your life, a void so large, even a large size Pizza with mushrooms, olives, green peppers would not fill. Therefore, what we need is to define a Purpose for which we exist, live for and are willing to die for, if it is required. Having no purpose in life is like travelling toward unknown destination, you can never be sure of your accomplishment, and hence you may never be happy. So, the next logical step is to ask the difficult question, who should set that direction for us ? is it us, humans, in other words are some fellow humans ( like our Politicians)the architects of our fate and destiny? are they indeed capable in solving our problems? Contrary to that notion, Einstein said, a problem is never solved at the same intellectual level it was created in the first place, Solution to our problems can only come from a higher authority not from big belly politicians, which means that humans can never be the masters of their destiny since they had no control of events that brought them to life and continues to lead their daily lives. Now, think with me, before we tackle the problem of success in life, let us define what success means once more. Success means Fitness For A Purpose . We all know what fitness means, it means, a set of requirements that measure how close we are to a desired goal or a purpose. As a runner, I would measure how fast I run a lap or how many minutes it takes me to run a mile. I would also measure my heart pulse, blood pressure, muscle mass, and at one time, for curiosity, I weighed myself before running eight mile distance, and after completing the run at the desired speed , I found that I almost lost a pound and a half, mostly water, which explains that life is a zero sum, you decide what you want to take and what price you are willing to pay for it. So in that example, my fitness meant that I was well within the range of measures that I set for myself to achieve. Now that we have figured out what fitness means, lets define what a Purpose means. A Purpose , is an internal picture of a decision, an intention( Niyah )desire to reach an objective or a goal, this definition is not from a dictionary, its a native e-Nuri definition, so in case it agrees with any dictionary rest assured that it is a genuine e-Nuri, since I did not have the time to look it up. So, success means Fitness For A Purpose , The first part, the Fitness is a tangible quantity. The second part, Purpose , is abstract, it is like beauty, a purpose or an intention to reach a goal is an abstract quantity that can only be measured with a predetermined set of metrics we call Fitness . Now, the piecs of the puzzle are finally coming together, our success in this life depends on how much we meet requiremensts the stake holder of our life has desired. As Muslims we all know, the stake holder of our life is Allah SWT, who clearly communicated through revelations that His intention behind our creation was Solely His worship. Allah SWT said in the Quran " I have not created the Jinn and Mankind except for the purpose of my worship " Therefore our success in the next life depends on how much we have worshiped Allah SWT in this present life. So, what is Worship? That is another story altogeher, a very interesting one, and the purpose for which you were created, for which you are given for sensing a pair of eyes, ears, a nose and finger tips, for analysing the data you collect with a brain, all of which are optimized for finding your way back to your maker, the better understanding you have for the true meaning of Worship , the closer you will be to approach success and hence genuine happiness in this life and the next. ............ To be continued Nur -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2005 e-Nuri Road Maps If You Don't Stand For Allah's Cause Alone, You Will Fall For Everything Else

Darqawi It was you brother who started out with a reminder of proper aadaab, your words smell that you are a bit irritated due to your belief that I am an opponent of your views in islam, beating the very purpose of debate before it even began. For you to suggest that i go sit under the feet of your Shiekh is disrecspectful to me, assuming that everyone to be a student to your sheikh shows a narrow perception of reality, and your choice of words to sugest that i am ranting is not in line with your declared commitment to proper Islamic Aadaab. And finally for you to post so many threads about the Sheikh and when you are asked to have the Sheikhs points be defended, for you to send readers to go sit under his feet, is not a respectful way to get followers for your Sheikh if that was your intention. If you are student of sufism, the best way to share your experience is to have a respectful dialogue with those who disagree with you, if you are only looking for people to agree with you, you should stay with the Sheikh, on this forum, no one but Allah is sacred, and no human is followed except the Prophet Muahammad SAWS, everyone else is a human and they need to come to people for their own salvation if they value their knowledge. If your sole interest is to use these pages as a traffic redirection, that is well understood, if on the other hand you are looking for a respectful debate in which you have the skin to gracefully accept criticism, then welcome brother, i think that you will enrich others and you will be enriched. Peace Nur

Can A Woman Become A Head Of An Islamic State? This article was triggered by a question posed to me by Brorther Xiinfaniin, after I have favorably responded to an article that was sympathetic to allowing women to hold highest office in an islamic State. Before I started out the research and reading of different sources, I was of the opinion that due to the current circumstances in which we find ourselves, and because of scarcity of sane men and abundance of wise women , that there must be a venue in the Sharia to Justify the leadership of women to safeguard Islam. However, the more I read, the more I realized that the ruling was contrary to my own desires, I came face to face with clear proofs that have no room to manuever around, simply put, I felt humbled by rock solid daleels ( proofs) that leave no room but hear and obey, my duty is thus to best relay that intention of the lawmaker, Allah SWT, as clear as I can. Bismillah, wa bihi nastaciin, wassalatu wassalamu calal mustafaa, waa alih wa saxbih wa man ittbacahum bi ixsaanin ilaa yowmadiin. Amen. Alahmadulillah, Allah SWT said : Today have I completed for you your Deen ( way of life), filled your(hearts) with my Nicmah ( Imaan), and thus became satisfied that you live as those surrendered (to my will) as your way of life Islam, thus is a: 1. Unique Way of Life 2. It is from Allah SWT, The Author 3. It is a form of unconditional surrender to highest authority 4. The highest authority that questions everyone, but is above questioning. Based on the above understading, Allah has sent a prophet SAWS, to mankind to teach them wisdom, justice and elevate them from decadence to the honor of His Sole worship. Thus, When an issue is raised that touches on the lives of Muslims in an Islamic state, its important to refer to Quraan as a guide, and sunnah as the practical interpretation of the Quraan since the purpose of the example of the prophet SAWS was to lead by example known as SUNNAH. So, in that sense, we must be certain that Muslims today can not expect to better their condition by going against the Sunnah, becaue no success will be derived from other than the Quraan and Sunnah since it was completed by Allah SWT. Men and women are a wholsome unit in a society, and no single gender can achieve success witthout the other, Allah SWT says, " Walaa tansawu al fadla beynakum" meaning, do not forget (to pay attention to) the FADL ( responsibility of men for women) and ( womens contribution to family welbeing) between you ( men and wolmen). That fadl, when forgotten, we have a break up of the family unit, and the community in general. So, what is the role of a man and a woman in a Muslim Society according to Quraan and Sunnah as we shall show the sources? Primary role of a man in a Muslim Society: 1. Bread winner and helper at home. 2. Defender of Family, Islamic values and society 3. Upholder of Law and Order 4. Worshipper of Allah Primary role of a woman in a Muslim Society: 1. Caretaker of Family 2. Education of Children 3. Advisor to Husband 4. Worshipper of Allah Now these gender roles are based on a society that is following Islam as a wholesome way of life ( Deen). In that ideal society, can a woman hold an office to lead men in government or law? That question can now be seen that it is out of place since it falls outside of the roles mentioned above,. Because, when a woman is required to do a job that is not in her sphere of influence, ( in which she is most effective given the above conditions ), she will fail as predicted by the prophet SAWS, and likewise when we ask men to do a job that is outside of the sphere of their influence, thet will also fail. Allah SWT says in Quraan : قال الله عز وجل : ( الرّÙجَال٠قَوَّامÙونَ عَلَى النّÙسَاء٠بÙمَا Ùَضَّلَ اللَّه٠بَعْضَهÙمْ عَلَى بَعْض٠وَبÙمَا أَنْÙÙŽÙ‚Ùوا Ù…Ùنْ النساء / .34 Men are Qawaamuun ( Head of households, Guardians, caretakers, Trustees, defenders, protectors) of women, as an excercise of that (authority) which Allah has vested upon them (instead of women), and for their (role) as (responsible) for funding requiremnts (of household expenditure) That trusteeship is an objective of Allah by itself, removing that trusteeship and giving it to woman over men requires another mandate derived from the same authority that gave the trusteeship to men over women in the fisrt place. It was also reported by Bukhari (4163) that the Prophet SAWS upon hearing the news that the Persians have appointed the daughter and heir apparnet of their King as the New Queen of Persia, said : A nation that placed a woman as their national leader never have/will never succeed" Imam Shawkani in his book Neil Al awtar said that the above hadeeth is a proof that women are not vested with the previllage of authority over men, since her rise to such a position will result in failure of the Muslim nations mission due to break up of natural responsibilities and roles in the society. Since the beginning of the Islamic caliphate, that principle was held without any questioning, it was well understood that women and men have different roles and the rulership of a woman was never an issue to tackle as the order of the Muslim society had a wholesome vision of an Islamic society. So, if we look at the issue from the point of view of the lawmaker ( Allah) we can ask, are these rulings eternal or are they changeable? Well, according to the Moral of the Islamic law ( Maqaasidul Shaaric), a ruling can be addressed to have an objective in something, or as a mean to another objective. In the case of the prohibition of the national leadership of women, it was done for the good of the Ummah, yet, the Hadeeth rules out the possibility that at anytime any woman will lead her ummah to success, in our particular case, success among other things means success of obeying Allahs laws, to attain role of rightful Khalifa on earth, so by going against that rule, a nation is deemed failed and not successful. Thus, in an islamic society, the role of trusteeship has been demarcated by a clear verse in Quraan and a hadeeth, which together serve as inviolable commandments of Allah SWT as they meet conditions of THUBUUT and DALAALAH in a clear from. 2006 eNuri Fiqh Explorations Surrender First, Wisdom Follows

Imam Ghazali may Allah accept his good deeds and forgive his sins, like all of us has contributed imensely to many sciences in Islam, specially the science of Maqaasidul Shariica, like the famous Shiekh who lived in the third or fourth century, Sheikh Tirmidhi Al Hakeem, who wrote a book on the Maqaasidul Salaat, I remember two great passages in that book that I can translate from memory as follows: Dhiker ( rememberance of Allah) is for the heart like water is for a tree, a well watered tree has green leaves and if you pull one of its branches it is flexible, when the tree is not watered, its leaves dry up, and if you try to pull one of its branches it will break up out of dryness, so the best thing you can do with such a branch is to use it as a piece of wood to place in fire to burn, likewise, when the heart is full with Dhiker, it makes all other parts of the body soft and vivacious, if you order that person to do good, she/he is flexible, but when there is no Dhiker in the heart, the persons senses will dry up, if you ask them to do good they will resist and as a result break up, the best thing that can be done with a person who broke away from his lord is to place them in a bigger fire. Every Prayer is like a new repentance, standing up in front of Allah is like pulling yourself away from disobedience, Takbeer means that you belittle everything that kept you away from Allah. Nur

Awakener Brother It is good to know tghat you are still around, my prayers that one day we come to conclusion that islam is a definite faith with clear entry point, rules to live by and exit point for those dissatisfied with it. I appreciate your keenness on peace and love, a truly Islamic principle, however, the closer we are to what Allah accepts the better our faith, thus let us strive to agree to converge to a common point accodring to Allahs words: that we do not worship other than Allah in any form, that we do not make shirk with him, and further that some of us should not take others for Gods. Nur

S.O.S Right after the collapse of the Caliphate in Turkey back in 1924, India was a hotbed of all streams of Islamic thought, great schools and Madarasas were producing very knowldegeable Ulima, at the same time there were movemenmts like the Qadyaniya( Ahamadia) and the Quraaniyoun who did away with Sunnah all together, it was in that environment that Mawdudi and Nadwi schools of thoughts of islamic revivalism was born, their writings have the aroma of defenders of an embattled faith, from that distance time, Islam is on the rise, and the mainstream Ahlul Sunnah wal Jamaacah are gaining grounds in hearts and minds, majority of converts and born again Muslims are chosing Quran and Sunnah as their faith. Nur

S.O.S Right after the collapse of the Caliphate in Turkey back in 1924, India was a hotbed of all streams of Islamic thought, great schools and Madarasas were producing very knowldegeable Ulima, at the same time there were movemenmts like the Qadyaniya( Ahamadia) and the Quraaniyoun who did away with Sunnah all together, it was in that environment that Mawdudi and Nadwi they were formed, their writings have the aroma of defenders of an embattled faith. Nur

S.O.S. JZK, for a great article, it goes a long way , and the sister must have gotten more than what she had in mind. Nur

Darqawi Sit at Sheikhs feet is AADAAB? Where in Quraan and Sunnah do you derive that ritual brother, And what made the Sheikh so qualified to have people he never met at his feet? Did you really do that as one of his Mureeds? washed his feet and drank the water for blessing to really become one of the Al Khaas cartegory? Enlighten us Brother, this crowd is so thirsty for knowledge, and to hear about your Sheikh and his students. This will be very interesting. Nur

Coming Soon! Somali Anarchist Union American Liars Association Joint Commuinique on Terror and Hunger In The Horn Of Africa Thousands Of Somalis Are Dying Out Of Hunger, Due To Draught, while 9 Anarchist Leaders Are Paid To Chase An Illussive Enemy. Nur

Vipe I had a chance once to take a specialized training course for a software package in Sydney, but, the company offered to train me in my location, for free, ( They had other clients who bought the same software who needed training in my region) now that was good and bad, because I had Cairns in my mind, 2000 kilometers of pure coral reefs of all kinds of exotic marine life, crustacians, and tropical fish, if you live close to Cairns, eNuri entourage will be honored to visit and be your guest. Nur

Its important that you clarify your objective for stydying secular law. Your obejctive alone will determine the answer. Nur

Nomads If you find it difficult maintaining your resolve to stay the course of Islam, then think about the price? Nur

This is a reminder to believers, men and women who browse this site, Sins are the source of all of our miseries on earth and after death, its an injustice we do against our own wellbeing, we aid Satan by sinning, s Satan has a bet against Allah that we will follow his footsteps, and for some, his making good on his promise, Allah says: Wa laqada saddaqa ibliisa dhannahu fattabacuuh, ilaa qaliilan minal muminiin" Iblis,( satan) made good on his promise that he will mislead many, except for few of the believers. Nur