As usual, your comments are more than welcome
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Some Leadership Qualities as Displayed by prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
A few of us are in leadership positions but all of us are in a need to embrace and demonstrate leadership qualities. Let us learn some of these qualities from our beloved prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They are much more but one hour can only take that much
Monday, December 22, 2008
The price of being moderate
Taking extremes is bad. The word "wasat" (literally means middle) is used in the Quraan and the tradition of Allah's messenger to describe the attribute of Muslims, their actions, and their viewpoints. It is basically a middle point between two extremes both of which are bad.
A person whose courage is so intense and not mixed with wisdom isan extremest. This courage is going to bring about trouble. On the other hand, a person with mild courage is basically a coward. The middle, having courage which is guided by wisdom, is the moderate attitude.
People might think that stretching oneself to the extreme is difficult. I think that is absolutely wrong. Being moderate is more difficult. Knowing what the moderate point is and trying to reach it require more effort and more time. It is like a hill whose top is this "high" moderate point and both ends are the extremes. One needs to climb the hill to reach moderation. Also, staying moderate by maintaning your position always on the top needs effort.
There is a price of being moderate. You will have to be able to overcome the gravity from both sides to maintain your position. You also need to overcome people shouting from "both" sides telling you that you are wrong and you ought to come down. On the other hand, people of extremes are safe and relaxed in each side of the hill.
A person whose courage is so intense and not mixed with wisdom isan extremest. This courage is going to bring about trouble. On the other hand, a person with mild courage is basically a coward. The middle, having courage which is guided by wisdom, is the moderate attitude.
People might think that stretching oneself to the extreme is difficult. I think that is absolutely wrong. Being moderate is more difficult. Knowing what the moderate point is and trying to reach it require more effort and more time. It is like a hill whose top is this "high" moderate point and both ends are the extremes. One needs to climb the hill to reach moderation. Also, staying moderate by maintaning your position always on the top needs effort.
There is a price of being moderate. You will have to be able to overcome the gravity from both sides to maintain your position. You also need to overcome people shouting from "both" sides telling you that you are wrong and you ought to come down. On the other hand, people of extremes are safe and relaxed in each side of the hill.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Purifying your life to Allah (Ikhlas)
Ikhlas is the essence of Islam. Purifying your deeds, your life, your death, your prayers, etc. to Allah and Allah alone. Some people call it sincerity. Got Ikhlas?
As usual, your comments are more than welcome
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Things I learned from TAM 08: The SimplEx Problem Solving
Yes, SimplEx. It is not a typo, continue reading ...
During the TAM 08, we ran a couple of sessions about defining some of our challenges in MAS and finding innovative ideas to overcome them. What we did in the TAM 08, was a very simplified version of the Simplex tool often used for problem solving.
Going through the discussions about the challenges facing Tarbiya in the American context and discussions regarding our success in promoting MAS and recruiting people for our cause, I found out that many of us are very good in finding the facts and defining the problem. Many of us are actually very good in proposing ideas and even presenting a vision of what things will look like when the problem is solved. What we really need to improve at and develop skills in is finding solutions, selecting the best solutions, making sure stakeholders buy into that solution, and putting this solution into action. Maybe the sessions in the TAM were not long enough to allow participants to continue the cycle. Or, maybe, the TAM is not a place for excution in the first place. Nevertheless, I find this pattern very common throughout my life.
Many of us know, love, and excel in the first part of the Simplex, that is Simple. We need to be able to know, love, and excel in the second part of the Simplex, that is Ex. We need to move beyond analysis and vision to actions and plans.
comments please!
During the TAM 08, we ran a couple of sessions about defining some of our challenges in MAS and finding innovative ideas to overcome them. What we did in the TAM 08, was a very simplified version of the Simplex tool often used for problem solving.
Going through the discussions about the challenges facing Tarbiya in the American context and discussions regarding our success in promoting MAS and recruiting people for our cause, I found out that many of us are very good in finding the facts and defining the problem. Many of us are actually very good in proposing ideas and even presenting a vision of what things will look like when the problem is solved. What we really need to improve at and develop skills in is finding solutions, selecting the best solutions, making sure stakeholders buy into that solution, and putting this solution into action. Maybe the sessions in the TAM were not long enough to allow participants to continue the cycle. Or, maybe, the TAM is not a place for excution in the first place. Nevertheless, I find this pattern very common throughout my life.
Many of us know, love, and excel in the first part of the Simplex, that is Simple. We need to be able to know, love, and excel in the second part of the Simplex, that is Ex. We need to move beyond analysis and vision to actions and plans.
comments please!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Things I learned from TAM 08: On Reforming MAS
A verse in the Quraan hits my heart every time the issue of reform is brought to the table. Praise be to Allah for sending such a miraculous book that helps us at all times and all situations. When I become in charge of any project, I tend to be very critical of what has been done in the past in order to be able to bring about a change. While doing so, I also tend to offend several people who sweated to get this project where it is. I remember one of the founders of our full time school, a MAS project in our area, told me angrily responding to a joke I made about the school being a kitchen school*, “if it weren’t for the kitchen school of yesterday, you wouldn’t have your school of today.” Only then I realized how much harm we bring to the table when we are not careful about what we say and the way we present our criticism.
Why is that relevant to the TAM discussions? Well, very relevant!
As we take part in discussions regarding:
- how important diversity is in MAS,
- how crucial it is for indigenous Americans to be part of MAS,
- how vital it is to empower the young generation and give them the chance to lead,
- and how the American culture should be naturally embraced for Americans to consider us seriously,
we tend to undermine a lot of the wonderful work people of the past did. We tend to blame our immigrant community of bringing to America their cultural baggage who alienated so many people. We keep blaming them for speaking broken English. We keep blaming them for not being actively involved in the society. We keep blaming them for not being politically involved. We keep blaming them for not involving the youth. And so on and so forth.
I know this naturally happens as part of our analysis and critical views of the past, but we ought to adapt another attitude while going through these exercises especially while presenting our opinions. This attitude is what is described in the verse I started talking about in the beginning of the post. Allah says, after praising the immigrants of Mecca and the people of Medina, “… And those who came after them say, O our Lord, forgive us and those who preceded us in embracing the Iman and do not put in our heart any hatred to those who have believed …”
What is really worthy of noticing here is that the call for forgiveness is NOT ONLY for those before us but for ourselves as well. As if we are saying, “we too make mistakes. We too have shortcomings. We too are not perfect. We too will not fulfill our duties towards you O Allah and towards our deen. We too want forgiveness as those before us do.” I found this attitude a genuine Islamic feeling towards our parents, our teachers, our elderly, and the founders of our beloved organization, MAS.
Another important point to make is that we tend to judge people while we are not aware of the context they lived in and the struggle they went through. One time Huzaifa ibn al-Yaman, the companion of the prophet was talking to his students when one of them said, "if we were to meet the prophet and live with him, we would have prevented any harm from reaching him (PBUH)." This student of Huzaifa is saying that after the fact. Huzaifa taught him, and accordingly us, a lesson by telling him a short story***. This short story brought this man to the reality of not looking down to other's achievement while not living the same experienc as ther were.
In the eyes of Allah, they will be held accountable for what they did and we will be held accountable for what we do. As Allah said, “That was a nation who has passed away. They shall receive the reward of what they earned and you of what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do.****”
O Allah forgive us and all those who preceded us in serving this dean and do not let any hatred comes to our heart to those who believed, Amin!
* There was so much cooking and food parties taking place, so much so it became more important than education (shhh)
** 59:10
*** this stroy is a home work
**** 2:134
Why is that relevant to the TAM discussions? Well, very relevant!
As we take part in discussions regarding:
- how important diversity is in MAS,
- how crucial it is for indigenous Americans to be part of MAS,
- how vital it is to empower the young generation and give them the chance to lead,
- and how the American culture should be naturally embraced for Americans to consider us seriously,
we tend to undermine a lot of the wonderful work people of the past did. We tend to blame our immigrant community of bringing to America their cultural baggage who alienated so many people. We keep blaming them for speaking broken English. We keep blaming them for not being actively involved in the society. We keep blaming them for not being politically involved. We keep blaming them for not involving the youth. And so on and so forth.
I know this naturally happens as part of our analysis and critical views of the past, but we ought to adapt another attitude while going through these exercises especially while presenting our opinions. This attitude is what is described in the verse I started talking about in the beginning of the post. Allah says, after praising the immigrants of Mecca and the people of Medina, “… And those who came after them say, O our Lord, forgive us and those who preceded us in embracing the Iman and do not put in our heart any hatred to those who have believed …”
What is really worthy of noticing here is that the call for forgiveness is NOT ONLY for those before us but for ourselves as well. As if we are saying, “we too make mistakes. We too have shortcomings. We too are not perfect. We too will not fulfill our duties towards you O Allah and towards our deen. We too want forgiveness as those before us do.” I found this attitude a genuine Islamic feeling towards our parents, our teachers, our elderly, and the founders of our beloved organization, MAS.
Another important point to make is that we tend to judge people while we are not aware of the context they lived in and the struggle they went through. One time Huzaifa ibn al-Yaman, the companion of the prophet was talking to his students when one of them said, "if we were to meet the prophet and live with him, we would have prevented any harm from reaching him (PBUH)." This student of Huzaifa is saying that after the fact. Huzaifa taught him, and accordingly us, a lesson by telling him a short story***. This short story brought this man to the reality of not looking down to other's achievement while not living the same experienc as ther were.
In the eyes of Allah, they will be held accountable for what they did and we will be held accountable for what we do. As Allah said, “That was a nation who has passed away. They shall receive the reward of what they earned and you of what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do.****”
O Allah forgive us and all those who preceded us in serving this dean and do not let any hatred comes to our heart to those who believed, Amin!
* There was so much cooking and food parties taking place, so much so it became more important than education (shhh)
** 59:10
*** this stroy is a home work
**** 2:134
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Things that I learned in the TAM 08: A definition of following the Sunnah
I was asked to share some of the things I learned from the TAM and some of the action items that we need to take into consideration ISA. I will have to start by saying that I learned a lot, especially by the challenging questions and discussions from my brothers and sisters to the instructors including myself. I will keep it as brief as possible and I will try to write more messages as I find time ISA.
I was presenting the part of the Basic Tarbiya Training course in which I was running a discussion of how we can establish love with people around us. I mentioned the incident of the Prophet (PBUH) grabbing the hand of Moaaz (r) telling him, “O Moaaz, I love you for the sake of Allah …” and continued to give him the advice. The discussion at that point transformed into a fundamental discussion of the definition of the Sunna of the prophet (PBUH).
One of the sisters said, “I find it so weird that someone picks my hand and tells me I love you.”
The question that came to mind and to the discussion was: is grabbing the hand of someone and saying to her I love you, part of the Sunnah of the prophet?
The answer is definitely YES. The Sunnah, as defined by scholars of Usul is what the prophet (PBUH) said, did, or approved of after he became the messenger of Allah*. Therefore, grabbing the hand of someone and telling him, I love you, is part of the Sunnah. How is it then weird to this sister?
There are two reasons that will make someone feels that an action of the prophet (PBUH) is weird or not accepted. First, one should question the basis on which we base our judgment. We often tend to judge the Sunnah based on factors that need judgment themselves. For that matter, we should actually use the Sunnah to judge those factors and not vise versa.
The other important reason is our misunderstanding of the Sunna of the prophet and that is the point I want to focus on here. I want to first write a very clear yet subtle difference in the definition of “following” the Sunnah of the prophet. People tend to borrow from the definition above and say, “following the Sunnah is following what the prophet did, said, or approved of.” This definition, in a sense, is not accurate (unless you define accurately what the word following means). The prophet did so many things and none of the scholars would dare to say we should do to follow his Sunnha. As obviously known, the prophet dug a ditch around Madinah at the time of al-ahzab and no one ever claims that this should be done these days. Although the Sunnah of the prophet was to dig a ditch around Madina, it will look weird if someone does that these days claiming that he is following the Sunnah of the prophet.
Although, the example above is naïve and all of us know it, in many ways of our life we dig a ditch around us and claim that we are following the Sunna of the prophet. The way we dress, the way we speak, the way we express our feelings, the way we think of Islamic work, and even the way we deal with our families is full of examples in which we are literally following the model of digging the ditch around us. We are the ones who make the Sunnah appear very weird and irrelevant to people around us especially people who are closely monitoring us to find out what Islam is.
We ought to define following the Sunnah of the prophet as doing what we think he (PBUH) would do should he were to do it now. With this definition we will make the Sunnah as relevant as it should be and it will make sense to all.
Coming back to the Basic Tarbiya course***, one should understand that the Sunnah of the prophet (PBUH) is to love others, care about them, express this love, communicate his message to them, etc (as we described in detail during the course). The methods and the tools are subject to change and are dependent on the context which the prophet himself would have changed them when the context changes.
Comments are appreciated …
* Sheikh Mustafa Al-Seba3i (r), “Sunnah and its position in Islamic Sharia”
** One would claim that it is proven scientifically that this specific tree branch is the best way of cleaning the teeth. Well, you know my answer
*** the whole sound track of the course is available and will be uploaded if the requests are a lot :-) (since it is kind of long)
I was presenting the part of the Basic Tarbiya Training course in which I was running a discussion of how we can establish love with people around us. I mentioned the incident of the Prophet (PBUH) grabbing the hand of Moaaz (r) telling him, “O Moaaz, I love you for the sake of Allah …” and continued to give him the advice. The discussion at that point transformed into a fundamental discussion of the definition of the Sunna of the prophet (PBUH).
One of the sisters said, “I find it so weird that someone picks my hand and tells me I love you.”
The question that came to mind and to the discussion was: is grabbing the hand of someone and saying to her I love you, part of the Sunnah of the prophet?
The answer is definitely YES. The Sunnah, as defined by scholars of Usul is what the prophet (PBUH) said, did, or approved of after he became the messenger of Allah*. Therefore, grabbing the hand of someone and telling him, I love you, is part of the Sunnah. How is it then weird to this sister?
There are two reasons that will make someone feels that an action of the prophet (PBUH) is weird or not accepted. First, one should question the basis on which we base our judgment. We often tend to judge the Sunnah based on factors that need judgment themselves. For that matter, we should actually use the Sunnah to judge those factors and not vise versa.
The other important reason is our misunderstanding of the Sunna of the prophet and that is the point I want to focus on here. I want to first write a very clear yet subtle difference in the definition of “following” the Sunnah of the prophet. People tend to borrow from the definition above and say, “following the Sunnah is following what the prophet did, said, or approved of.” This definition, in a sense, is not accurate (unless you define accurately what the word following means). The prophet did so many things and none of the scholars would dare to say we should do to follow his Sunnha. As obviously known, the prophet dug a ditch around Madinah at the time of al-ahzab and no one ever claims that this should be done these days. Although the Sunnah of the prophet was to dig a ditch around Madina, it will look weird if someone does that these days claiming that he is following the Sunnah of the prophet.
Although, the example above is naïve and all of us know it, in many ways of our life we dig a ditch around us and claim that we are following the Sunna of the prophet. The way we dress, the way we speak, the way we express our feelings, the way we think of Islamic work, and even the way we deal with our families is full of examples in which we are literally following the model of digging the ditch around us. We are the ones who make the Sunnah appear very weird and irrelevant to people around us especially people who are closely monitoring us to find out what Islam is.
We ought to define following the Sunnah of the prophet as doing what we think he (PBUH) would do should he were to do it now. With this definition we will make the Sunnah as relevant as it should be and it will make sense to all.
- Digging the trench is a sunnah but protecting your land with all possible sophisticated means is the real Sunnah
- Grabbing the hand and saying I love you is a sunnah but expressing the care and love is the real Sunnah
- Sending people with messages is the sunnah but utilizing all possible sophisticated means of communication is the real sunnah
- Brushing the teeth with a specific tree branch is a sunnah but using the best tooth brush and tooth paste to clean the mouth is the real Sunnah**
- And so on ..
Coming back to the Basic Tarbiya course***, one should understand that the Sunnah of the prophet (PBUH) is to love others, care about them, express this love, communicate his message to them, etc (as we described in detail during the course). The methods and the tools are subject to change and are dependent on the context which the prophet himself would have changed them when the context changes.
Comments are appreciated …
* Sheikh Mustafa Al-Seba3i (r), “Sunnah and its position in Islamic Sharia”
** One would claim that it is proven scientifically that this specific tree branch is the best way of cleaning the teeth. Well, you know my answer
*** the whole sound track of the course is available and will be uploaded if the requests are a lot :-) (since it is kind of long)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Evaluating yourself against a high quality Muslim
The qualities of the servants of the Most Gracious is eloquently mentioned in Surat Al-furqan. One ought to measure him/herself to such high standards. I picked a couple of important attributes of those people and presented for us to aspire to be. Listen and evaluate yourself
As usual, your comments are more than welcome
Friday, July 11, 2008
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Time to Travel
This speech is about the tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) when he used to travel. Since this time when people travel, I thought of sharing his tradition with the Friday gathering.
In the following few points we will go through a list of traditions prophet Muhammad used to do.
Planning your trip
1- Istikharah. The prophet (PBUH) used to ask Allah Ta’ala for guidance, a process called Istikhara (asking for guidance). The way you do this is to make 2 Rak3at of Salah other than the mandatory Salah and pray using the following prayer: "O Allah, I consult You as You are All-Knowing and I appeal to You to give me power as You are Omnipotent, I ask You for Your great favor, for You have power and I do not, and You know all of the hidden matters . O Allah! If you know that this matter (then he should mention it) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: 'for my present and future life,') then make it (easy) for me. And if you know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, my livelihood and my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: 'for my present and future life,') then keep it away from me and take me away from it and choose what is good for me wherever it is and please me with it."
2- Time to leave. The prophet used to Choose the best time to go out. He used to choose early morning and rarely start his trip other than Thursday.
3- Choosing company. Traveling alone is not recommended. As a matter of fact the prophet discouraged it a lot. He encouraged people to travel in groups of three and up. He also recommended that travelers should choose a leader from among themselves to lead the group in the trip.
4- Asking for forgiveness and repenting to Allah before you leave
5- Delivering any trusts to people if any
6- Saying good bye to the family and friends. The prophet used to say to those whom he leaves behind when he leaves: “We leave you as a trust with Allah, the one whose trusts are never wasted.” He also used to make Doaa for those who travel telling them, “May Allah provide you with piety, forgive your sins, and guide you to the good wherever you are.”
7- Asking the traveler to pray for you. The prophet used to ask the traveler to pray for him and he mentioned that the prayer of the traveler will not be declined.
Starting the Trip
8- What you say when you ride. When the prophet (PBUH) rides on his ride, he says, “Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts). And verily, to Our Rubb we indeed are to return!”
9- Supplication when you start the trip. “O Allah, we ask You during this journey of ours for righteousness, piety and such deeds as are pleasing to You. O Allah, make easy for us this journey of ours and make the distance short for us. O Allah, You are our Companion during the journey and the Guardian of the family and the property in our absence. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the hardships of travelling, unhappiness connected with ghastly scenes and evil turns in property and family.”
10- Making Supplication during traveling as it is not declined.
11- Remembering Allah and mentioning Him during the trip. The prophet advised his companions to say “Allahu Akbar,” every time they are going up hill and “Subhana Allah,” every time they are going down.
Arriving at your destination
12- What you say when you arrive. The prophet used to say when he enters a village, “O Allah, I ask you from the good of this village and the good of its people and I seek refuge by you from the evil of this village and the evil of its people.”
Coming back home
13- When coming back, the prophet used to do the same thing for the departing trip and he adds, “To our Lord we continuously return, to Him we continuously repent, to Him we are in continuous obedience.”
Arriving at the home town
14- When you see your home town, you should say, “O Allah, make me dwell in it in good and provide from me a blessed provision.”
15- Start by 2 Rak3at in the Masjid if you can.
16- Do not surprise your family. The prophet used to inform them that he is coming and he would never arrive at night in surprise.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
In the Shades of Hijrah - Part I
The event of Hijra is so important in the Muslim history. It is so interesting that we talk about the incendent itself and forget about what made this event what it is. In this speech, I tried to go back years before this event and learn some lessons. This will be continued next week ISA. Please listen and comment. We need to learn more lessons ISA.
As usual, your comments are more than welcome
Friday, January 04, 2008
What is Haya'
The prophet says, "Every religion has its unique charachter trait, and the character trait of Islam is "Haya' " Here is what it means and how important it is
As usual, your comments are more than welcome
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)