13 July 2014 Musa plans return to Egypt and Muslim is a mirror...

13 July 2014

Musa plans return to Egypt and Muslim is a mirror...

By the Grace of Allah, in this blessed month, we continued with the life of Prophet Musa* and he became a Messenger on his journey to Egypt. We also explored why all Prophets were shepherds.
The Main topic was exploring the Hadith about a Muslim being a mirror to another Muslim – many lessons to be learned.
Some great feedback from the children and next week we’ll continue with Allah’s conversation with Musa*, inshaAllah.
Please continue do dhikr and get close to Allah in the last half of Ramadhan and please continue to make du’a for all your family, friends, the ill and dying, those Muslims affected by war and oppression around the world (including Syria, Palestine, Kashmire, Burma, Chechnya, Iraq, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Egypt and others).
Jzk.
Naveed

Lives of the Prophets - Musa: Journey to Egypt


Recap - Life of Musa* to date...
(Backstory important in defining Musa* and giving him the skills and competencies to deal both with Pharaoh and his people - Bani Israel)

• Birth
• Upbringing in the Palace
• Accidental killing
• Fleeing
• Life as a Shepherd (see below)
• Family Man

'Every Prophet a Shepherd'
What is the wisdom behind this from Allah? Some points are:

1 Teaching responsibility.
The shepherd is responsible for his herd and usually looks after the flock of another. They are hired. The shepherd holds full responsibility and accountability over the herd.
2 Teaching patience.
Taking sheep out to graze is a slow process, as sheep are quite slow and they take their time and one must wait until the sheep are done. The shepherd must wait and be patient, as he is unable to communicate with them. Prophets required much patience during da'wah.
3 Teaching protection.
The shepherd protects the herd. There are various seen or unseen dangers, wolves, other beasts, diseases, etc, all of which the shepherd must consistently make sure do not endanger the herd.
The Prophets are very protective of their people, and they try to protect their followers from all physical and psychological dangers.
4 Teaching detection of danger.
Sheep/Goat have limited sight and can only see so far. A human who stands tall has a longer view and can see danger as it is approaching, as the herd cannot. The first to notice danger is the shepherd who can give an advanced warning to the herd.
The Prophets have the clearest vision and the longest view, and a vantage point that none of us have and they know what is good for us.
At times the shepherd may hit the sheep in order to give a clear and quick warning and ward off its current path away from the danger. There is no time for a nice and slow convincing manner to this approach when the danger is so near. Similarly, the Prophets at times would appear harsh in their words, as they cared about their followers and wanted to move them away from close dangers.
5 Teaching simplicity.
A shepherd is living a very simple life and cannot take all of his accessories with him to the desert. A shepherd can only carry with him some basic needs in the desert whilst doing his job. A shepherd will also become accustomed to the different environments encountered when feeding the animals, such as the cold or heat of the weather, rain, wind, etc.
6 Teaching closeness to the creation of Allah
Shepherding pulls you out of the artificial world and brings you close to nature. Shepherding gives him an opportunity to contemplate about nature.


Why specifically sheep?
There is a custom to raise cows and camels. Prophets herded sheep [or goat] and not other animals.

1 Sheep are weak animals
Weaker than cows and camels and need more protection and care and can easily fall prey. If one sheep goes astray, that will be the target of the wolf. Sheep more difficult to maintain as a flock because of their propensity to go astray and wander away.
2 We are affected by our surrounding environment and it leaves a lasting effect on our personality.
Shepherds are different than cowboys and cowboys differ from shepherds of camel. Sheep are very compassionate, merciful and weak, so the shepherd learns to become kind and merciful toward them as they are fragile animals and one cannot be too harsh toward them.
Camels on the other hand are very arrogant animals, and one cannot be soft with a camel as it will take advantage of you. The arrogance of the camel must be met with strength as opposed to kindness and compassion. Shepherds of camel are therefore very rough, tough and may be rude, which is learned via their environment.


Other Responsibilities of Shepherd

• Feeding
• Watering
• Grooming
• Shearing
• Delivering Lambs
• Leading
• Wandering Sheep

Prophet Musa* at the Valley Of Tuwa and the First Revelation
The Prophet Musa* honoured his agreement and stayed in Madian for many years and got married and may or may not have had children. Prophet Musa* felt homesick and wanted to visit his family in Egypt and so him and his family left Madian. On their journey to Egypt they became lost and it was a cold desert night when Prophet Musa* saw a fire in the distance, on the side of the Mount Sinai. The Prophet Musa* thought he could bring a brand from the fire to warm up or to gather some information from the people about the journey to Egypt.
When Moses had fulfilled the appointed term and had set off with his family, he noticed a fire from one side of the Mount. He said to his family, "Stay here, I can see a fire. Hopefully I will bring you back some news from it or a burning branch from the fire so that you will be able to warm yourselves." (TMQ 28:29)
When Moses said to his household, "I can make out a fire. I will bring you news from it or at least a burning brand so that hopefully you will be able to warm yourselves." (TMQ 27:7)
When he saw a fire and said to his family, "Wait here. I can make out a fire. Maybe I will bring you a brand from it, or will find guidance there." (TMQ 20:10)
He approached the fire and saw the light extending to heaven and the tree not burning, special bright light when suddenly he heard his name!
But when he reached it a voice called out to him from the right hand side of the valley in the part which was full of blessing, from out of the bush: "Moses, I am Allah, the Lord of all the worlds." (TMQ 28:30)
Then when he reached it, a voice called out, "Moses! I am your Lord. Take off your sandals. You are in the holy valley of Tuwa. I have chosen you, so listen well to what is revealed. I am Allah. There is no god but Me, so worship Me and establish prayer to remember Me." (TMQ 20: 11-14)

This was the first revelation the Prophet Musa* received, honouring him as Allah's messenger, the highest rank that a human can attain in this world.



 Main Topic: Hadith where "A believer is a mirror to another believer" (narrated by Abu Huraira—transmitted in Abu Dawud)


Why choose mirror specifically and not just say "they give naseeha (advice) to one another?


The Mirror (how the mirror gives you advice)

• The mirror doesn’t lie to you - It shows you exactly how you are.
• The mirror shows what is wrong with you.
• The mirror gives you advice immediately.
• When you leave the mirror, it doesn’t spread your advice to the next person.
• The mirror doesn’t share your secrets.
• The mirror allows you to change at your pace - It doesn’t force you to make any changes but shows it to you.
• The mirror shows you the advice, and when you leave the mirror, that’s it
• The mirror will show you the same mistake the next time but won’t nag you about it.
• If you have a mistake and fix it, then the mistake is no longer there anymore - It doesn’t show you the mistake anymore.
• If you don’t have the mirror, you wouldn’t be able to see what’s wrong with you
• The mirror shows you things you can’t see.
• The mirror shows you the good and the bad.
• The mirror doesn’t talk back to you or give you attitude.
• Mirrors can be simple and don’t have to be fancy - A person doesn’t have to be Scholar to give you advice! If you can teach yourself to find good in anyone’s advice or anyone’s speech and act upon it, then you have struck gold.
• The mirror is like Inception. You think you are fixing yourself when you look at it but it was really the mirror that showed it to you - You think you see the fault, but it is actually the mirror that shows you the fault.
• A dirty mirror can’t really show you much. You have to go to a clean mirror.
• If there’s no light, then you can’t benefit from the mirror. Light is like iman (Faith); Darkness = no iman. No hidayah, no knowledge
• The mirror can only show you what is on the outside. It doesn’t even attempt to profess to know what is on the inside - The believer can’t read what is in your heart.
• If you smile at the mirror, it smiles back at you. If you frown at the mirror, it frowns back at you.
• Mirrors always speak to you in a language that you understand.
• No human beings can see themselves with their own eyes - The mirror is the only reflective surface that allows you to see yourself.
• There’s some type of advice you only want to get in private
• The mirror gives full advice and not half of the advice - If there is strawberry in your teeth, it will show all of it to you and not just part of it.
• The mirror makes no judgment and only gives you advice.
• The mirror can be portable - You can call people any time you need advice. The mobile phone is like the portable mirror.
• The mirror doesn’t bend the rules for you.
• You can have more than one mirror.
• It never tires. Every time you stand in front of it, it is ready to give you advice.
• It shows you where you are in relation to your background.
• Mirrors are used to make an area look spacious. Perhaps you have certain traits (interrupt people, speak to people rudely), and these make your world constrict around you. When your friend shows you these things, then suddenly it becomes more spacious.
• You need to look in the mirror. If you don’t, then you have problems.
• Sometimes you have to go to another mirror just to make sure - The first brother may have given you advice but you don’t know him well, so you go to your closer friend and ask if what the first brother said is correct.
• You take care of the mirror - It is a two-way relationship.
• The more you don’t look, the worse your appearance. You always go to it every day. You look at a mirror more than once a day.
• You need to show the mirror what you need advice about.
• It doesn’t need compliments.
• It doesn’t have to be perfect.
• It doesn’t get irritated.
• It is always there for you.

29 June 2014 Musa (5)* settles in Madian and British Values

29 June 2014

Prophet Musa (5)* settles in Madian and British Values

Musa* settles in Madian

Characteristic of the Slave mentality – the person from Bani Israel who was helped by Musa* was the one who got Musa* into trouble. Tend to have negative self image, very selfish, lack of honour and respect for each other and a massive inferiority complex – always wanting to please those that oppress them.
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Prophet Musa* had lived a pampered lifestyle now found himself wondering in the desert with no food or water. Walked so much that his sandals wore out and reduced to eating leaves to survive.
Walked and walked and ended up in Madian (modern day south Jordan)
At an oasis, Prophet Musa* saw  two women holding back their sheep who could not water their flocks out of wanting to avoid other shepherds. Shows his benevolent, caring and strong character, as well as his good upbringing.
He said, "What are you two doing here?" They said, "We cannot draw water until the shepherds have driven off their sheep. You see our father is a very old man." So he drew water for them and then withdrew into the shade and said, "My Lord, I am truly in need of any good You have in store for me." (TMQ 28:24)
Allah responded to this du’a. Then there came unto him one of the two women, walking shyly and said, "My father invites you so that he can reward you with a payment for drawing water for us." When he came to him and told him the whole story he said, "Have no fear, you have escaped from wrongdoing people." (TMQ 28:25)
One of them said, "Hire him, father. The best person to hire is someone strong and trustworthy." (TMQ 28:26) – characteristics of good workers!
He said, "I would like to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on condition that you work for me for eight full years. If you complete ten, that is up to you. I do not want to be hard on you. You will find me, Allah willing, to be one of the righteous." He (Moses) said, "That is agreed between me and you. Whichever of the two terms I fulfil, there will be no injustice done to me. Allah is Guardian over what we say." (TMQ 28:27-28)
A shrewd offer from the father (some scholars say could be Prophet Shoaib*) given Musa*’s personality and desperate situation having fled from Egypt. Wedding gift set as work for minimum 8 years.


Main Topic: British and Islamic Values

British History
“Those who tell the stories also hold the power.” Plato
George Orwell once wrote, “He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.”
David Cameron (the Prime Minister) recently wrote “Britain has a lot to be proud of, and our values and institutions are right at the top of that list.” Tony Blair said (in 1997) he thought that Britain’s empire should be the cause of “neither apology nor hand-wringing”.
There is a romantic view that Pax Britannica ushered in an unprecedented period of worldwide peace and prosperity. This new imperialism tries to justify itself with a story about Britain’s introduction of free trade, the rule of law, democracy and Western civilisation across the globe. We are taught that Western Civilisation is the most advanced form of civilisation known to man and a unique phenomenon rising far above all of history intellectually, morally and scientifically. Hence, the need to ‘civilise’ other backward and inferior peoples through the British “liberators”. Infact, David Cameron calls for a ‘muscular’ campaign to enforce secular liberalism on Muslims in the UK!
Coming after the politically motivated Ofsted’s inspection into the alleged Trojan Horse (Hoax) affair in Birmingham, his intended subjects were clear: Muslims hadn’t done enough to become British and had to be taught a lesson or two about the country whose values they were now required to adopt as their own.

Core British Values
A recent article in The Telegraph outlined ten core values of the British identity:
I. The rule of law. Our society is based on the idea that we all abide by the same rules, whatever our wealth or status. No one is above the law - not even the government.
II. The sovereignty of the Crown in Parliament. The Lords, the Commons and the monarch constitute the supreme authority in the land. There is no appeal to any higher jurisdiction, spiritual or temporal.
III. The pluralist state. Equality before the law implies that no one should be treated differently on the basis of belonging to a particular group. Conversely, all parties, sects, faiths and ideologies must tolerate the existence of their rivals.
IV. Personal freedom. There should be a presumption, always and everywhere, against state coercion. We should tolerate eccentricity in others, almost to the point of lunacy, provided no one else is harmed.
V. Private property. Freedom must include the freedom to buy and sell without fear of confiscation, to transfer ownership, to sign contracts and have them enforced. Britain was quicker than most countries to recognise this and became, in consequence, one of the happiest and most prosperous nations on Earth.
VI. Institutions. British freedom and British character are immanent in British institutions. These are not, mostly, statutory bodies, but spring from the way free individuals regulate each other's conduct, and provide for their needs, without recourse to coercion.
VII. The family. Civic society depends on values being passed from generation to generation. Stable families are the essential ingredient of a stable society.
VIII. History. British children inherit a political culture, a set of specific legal rights and obligations, and a stupendous series of national achievements. They should be taught about these things.
IX. The English-speaking world. The anglosphere - on all of us who believe in freedom, justice and the rule of law.
X. The British character. Shaped by and in turn shaping our national institutions is our character as a people: stubborn, stoical, indignant at injustice. "The Saxon," wrote Kipling, "never means anything seriously till he talks about justice and right."

Magna Carta
This was signed by King John in 1215 was written in Latin and then translated into French and was specifically for nobles giving no such protection from arbitrary arrest and punishment for ordinary people. It was born out of a messy compromise between the monarch and his feudal barons and not out of high minded principles.

British Origins?
Is there something in the soil that means Britain is special? Are Values unique to all who live in the British Isles or are they shared universally?

·         Democracy began in ancient Greece, not Britain.
·         Tolerance existed well before the Roman conquest of Britain.
·         The rule of law predates the Magna Carta (Prophet Muhammed’s Charter for Medina 600 years prior).
·         Freedom, whether of speech, assembly or economic rights, was grudgingly introduced in a piecemeal fashion into Britain and was, in fact, largely an import from Europe.

Double Standards

Democracy
Democratic countries are run for the rich by the rich with scandals around corporate interests, lobbying, wealthy donors, MP abuse of power and money highlighting these. Also, an aggressive global colonisation and a non-ethical foreign policy propping up dictators and tyrants who are fiercely anti-democratic. What is democratic about a Veto (in the UN) and why didn’t Cameron just accept the will of the majority recently when they elected a European President?

Rule of Law
Modern Britain is a surveillance society with intrusive spying on the whole British population, it supports secret trials and readily strips people of their citizenship on secret evidence. Also kidnapping known as “extraordinary rendition”, torture of terror suspects, indefinite detention without charge, unjust treatment of foreign nationals, control orders placed on suspects who are unable to challenge any alleged evidence against themselves.
In June 2007, Tony Blair had stopped a Serious Fraud Office investigation against the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems about bribing the Saudis to win a contract worth £43 billion (al-Yamamah deal) because it was not in Britain’s “national interest” go to trial.

Tolerance
The British people are generally a very tolerant people but the Politicians will only tolerate people as long as they do as they are told and act like they are told. Otherwise, people (especially Muslims) need to assimilate and become like the British. However, when British people go abroad they stay in their own communities in Spain, Dubai etc and do not ‘go native’.
Any discussion about Muslims is seen through the lens of conspiracy, radicalisation, national security, creeping Islamisation and a looming existential threat to the very future of Britain. Muslims are disproportionately the object of news coverage, and inversely proportionally able to inform and shape the public conversation. We are the most talked about, and least heard.

Others:
Other things to mention are attacking, invading and occupying Iraq for over 11-years based on a lie about weapons of mass destruction. Over one million Iraqis died based on this lie.
Casino capitalism that caused the global financial suffering.
Liberalism and individualism which is linked to social chaos with family break-down, youth delinquency, the dissolution of community values and disrespect for the law, homelessness.

“When they are told, ‘Do not cause corruption on the earth,’ they say, ‘We are only putting things right.’ No indeed! They are the corrupters, but they are not aware of it.” [TMQ 2:12]

The Islamic Values, Cause for Real Justice
The Muslims have a rich history that demonstrates the positive and immense impact Islam bought to the world. Its contributions to culture, sciences, accountable government and justice led to the betterment of millions of Muslims and non-Muslims who lived under its rule for over 1300 years.
The Prophet* brought down a Shariah that obliged the rule of law to be placed on both leader and common person alike. Thus if Muslims had a dispute with their rulers they were ordered to return it back to Islam through the Mahkamat Madhalim (Court of unjust acts) which could censure or even remove the ruler himself if he violated the Shariah.
“O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end” [TMQ 4:59]
The Prophet* said, “The nations before [us] were destroyed because if a noble person committed theft, they used to leave him, but if a weak person amongst them committed theft, they used to inflict the legal punishment on him. By Allah, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, committed theft, Muhammad would cut off her hand!” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Similarly the Prophet* explained that those accused are innocent until proven guilty, “The burden of proof is upon the plaintiff, and the oath is upon the one who is accused.” (Tirmidhi)
The prohibition of torture in Islam is clear - the Prophet* said, “Allah tortures those who torture the people in this life.” (Muslim)
Islam does not promote the ideas of personal freedom to behave as you like, to dress as you like, to mix with whomsoever you like, and to get rich in any way that you like. Islam promotes the idea of basing one’s behaviour on the shariah rules and reminds people that Allah does not like debauchery, exploitation and oppression.

Superiority of Islam
Muslims should be proud of our Values which also include honesty, being good to the neighbour and stranger, valuing parents, strong family unit and being a shy nation! Muslims must not apologise for Islam. Islam is sufficient for us. With the barrage of criticisms over the last few months, and now with a call to force Muslims to change, Muslims are deliberately being made to feel that Islam is inferior, to erode their adherence to its beliefs and practices.
Muslim Values (in this country and elsewhere) include:

• respect for parents
• respect for law
• looking after the neighbour
• visiting the sick / ill
• accountability of actions
• honesty in all dealings
• respect (tolerance) of other beliefs and opinions

The Islamic shariah is superior to all other shariahs. The Islamic shariah is only taken from the revealed texts of the Quran and sunnah, which do not change according the interests of a few powerful oppressors. We should not apologise for being against promiscuity and homosexuality nor should we stop condemning the evil of the Western colonial foreign policies. Islamic values that are revealed by the Creator. They are superior to all other values and are bound to shine when held onto by the believers.
“Do not give up and do not be downhearted. You shall be uppermost if you are believers.” [TMQ 3:139]