21 September 2014: Musa and Magicians Duel, Scottish Independence

21 September 2014: Musa and Magicians Duel, Scottish Independence

Musa and Magicians Duel
 
Musa* has 2 objectives from Allah:
- Talk to Pharaoh and convince him about Islam
- Ask Pharaoh to free Bani Israel as he has been oppressive
He entered into Pharaoh’s court and made his demands and showed his miracles but Pharaoh didn’t but it.
Egyptian Headlines

We started off with some mock news headlines that we could expect from this propaganda battle between Pharaoh and his elite with the Muslims of the day = Musa* (referenced to today’s tabloid reaction to Muslims):

Egyptian Propaganda
Issues from the discussion of headlines and how the propaganda would be spun!:
- Terror threat as Musa challenges Pharaoh
- No real magic
- Ministry of Magic to train the best / brightest talent
- Society based upon superstitions and magicians (as priests) provide link between gods and people
- Role of magic in Egyptian society to control the people and show godliness of Pharaoh
- Egypt was the most advanced society and yet Bani Israel wanted out of the structure of civilisation
- Musa*’s demands were a direct challenge to the authority of Pharaoh and if Pharaoh accepted demands it would show weakness and his power would collapse
- Bani Israel was a foreign community and kept themselves distinct and easy target for bigotry
- Not too different between how Muslim’s of today are exposed to propaganda when compared to the Muslims at the time of Musa*
Pharaoh was not impressed with the display of miracles and said it was cheap magic and assumed that Musa* wanted to overtake his authority and take control, come to power and overthow the government of the time. Pharaoh knew that he couldn’t give in to Musa* if he wanted to keep his power and control. Hence, this was an existential threat to how society has been run.
[ Just like to day Muslims want to dismantle the oppression of modern governments and implement the Justice of Allah over the people. For example, aim to eradicate poverty and provide basic necessities for all citizens. This would be funded by exploiting natural resources (oil wealth, whatever is mined underground) for the benefit of the whole population not just a few families or elite. ]

Pharaoh rejects the Miracles and summons his magicians
Pharaoh claimed the miracles of the Prophet Musa* were a magician's tricks, and according to his shallow mindset believed that they could be undone by his own magicians. Therefore, he could allegedly defeat the Prophet Musa* to regain his leverage.
He said, "Have you come to us to expel us from our land by means of your magic, Moses? We will bring you magic to match it. So fix a time between us and you which neither we nor you will fail to keep at a place where we can meet halfway."
He (Moses) said, "Your time is the day of the festival. The people should gather in the morning." (Surah Ta-Ha: 57-59)
Musa* chose the festival where most people would be and he knew this as he grew up in this environment. In this way, all the people would hear the message of the Prophet Musa* and witness the defeat of Pharaoh and his magicians. Pharaoh summoned the top magicians from all over Egypt and told them of what ‘tricks’ Musa had which they needed to compete with. They demanded what payment they would receive and they were promised fame, money, power and influence.
(They said) "To bring you all the skilled magicians."
The magicians came to Pharaoh and they asked, "Will we receive a reward if we are the winners?"
He (Pharaoh) said, "Yes, and you will be among those brought near." (Surat al-A'raf: 112-114)


The Battle commences...
The most able magicians of Egypt were brought against the Musa* and the Harun. The Prophet Musa* was asked to decide who should start after he gave them one last chance to change their mind:
Moses said to them, "Woe to you! Do not fabricate lies against Allah or He will annihilate you with His punishment. Fabricators of lies are bound to fail."
They argued among themselves about the matter and had a secret conference.
They said, "These two magicians desire by their magic to expel you from your land and abolish your most excellent way of life, so decide on your scheme and then arrive together in force. He who gains the upper hand today will definitely prosper." (Surah Ta-Ha: 60-64)
They said, "Moses, will you throw or shall we be the first to throw?" He said, "No, you throw!"
And suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him, by their magic, to be slithering about. (Surah Ta-Ha: 65-66)
He (Moses) said, "You throw." And when they threw, they cast a spell on the people's eyes and caused them to feel great fear of them. They produced an extremely powerful magic. (Surat al-A'raf: 116)
When the (about 70 or so) magicians performed their magic, their ropes and staffs appeared to slither. As Allah informs us in the verse, all were deceived into seeing ropes and staffs as moving by themselves. Just an optical illusion. All the top people in society were invited to show up Musa* but this worked against Pharaoh in the end. With their illusions, the magicians of Pharaoh won the public over.
These are the top magicians in the world at the time and if there was anyone else who could do ‘magic’ they would certainly know about it. Just like the top scientists know each other. The example of Ben Johnson ‘coming from nowhere’ to win the Olympic medal – had to be cheating! Hence, they were confident they would win and ‘magic’ was the thing that the people in society excelled in. Hence, the miracle was all the greater.
They threw down their ropes and staffs and said, "By the might of Pharaoh we are the winners." (Surat ash-Shu'ara: 44)
Moses experienced in himself a feeling of alarm. We said, "Have no fear. You will have the upper hand. Throw down what is in your right hand. It will swallow up their handiwork. Their handiwork is just a magician's trick. Magicians do not prosper wherever they go." (Surah Ta-Ha: 67-69)
When they had thrown, Moses said, "What you have brought is magic. Allah will certainly prove it false. Allah does not uphold the actions of corrupters." (Surah Yunus, 10: 81)
Following these words related in the verses, the Prophet Musa* threw down his staff. The result was terrifying for the magicians. The Prophet Musa’s*staff swallowed the sorcery of Pharaoh's magicians:
We revealed to Moses, "Throw down your staff." And it immediately swallowed up what they had forged. So the Truth took place and what they did was shown to be false. They were defeated then and there, transformed into humbled men. (Surat al-A'raf: 117-119)
Unlike the illusory tricks of magicians, the Prophet Musa* worked a real miracle by his staff. Consequently, contrary to what the unbelievers expected, the Prophet Musa* defeated the magicians. So, everybody witnessed that Allah's promise was true. 


Main topic: Scottish Independence

What can link Scottish Independence vote with Islam...?
55% has voted for Scotland to remain as part of the Union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland against 45% who voted for independence. So what can be learned?
- Turnout: The very high turnout of around 90% indicates something important – people are generally disillusioned with main-stream politics / democracy where only 60% vote. Westminster politicians are disconnected from the ordinary people with politicians considered to be amongst the least trustworthy of all.
- Britain has an identity crisis! Does being ‘British’ or ‘Scottish’ depend upon geography, ancestry, tribe, skin colour or language? It is simply not about culture or a shared history. It is about beliefs and values. After 300 years the Union of England and Scotland, capitalism has failed to melt people together in a single nation state into one identity. What do we consider our identity to be here?
- As a Muslim we should be unified as we are One Ummah: One Book, One Allah, One seal of Prophets. The idea / concept of a ‘Nation State’ was and is associated with the rise of the modern system of states, often called the "Westphalian system" in reference to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). Modern Muslim countries are only about one hundred years old or younger and have no justification in Islam. Nationalism is an alien concept to Muslims – although we acknowledge where we come from we don’t have allegiance to the soil. Many countries were drawn up by 2 people: The Sykes–Picot Agreement was a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France defining their proposed spheres of influence and control in the Middle East upon defeating the Ottoman Empire. The agreement was concluded on 16 May 1916.

29 November 2009

Seerah of Muhammed*

*: May the peace blessings & Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Prophet Visits at-Taif....
Updated soon (I/A)


Hadith (Riyadh as-Salihin): Steadfastness

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The strong man is not the one who throws people in wrestling. The strong man is the one who has control of himself when he is angry." [Bukhari, Muslim]

Sulayman ibn Surad said, "One day I was sitting with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while two men were quarreling. The face of one of them turned red and his veins stood out. The Messenger of Allah said, 'I know a word which, if you say it, will remove what you feel.' (Or he said '"I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan' will remove from him what he feels.') They told him that the Prophet and two men were were quarreling said, 'Seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan.'" [Bukhari, Muslim]

Mu'adh ibn Anas reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If someone restrains his anger when he is able to give vent to it, Allah ­ glory be to Him and may He will exalted!­ will summon him at the head of creatures on the Day of Rising so that he can chose whichever of the wide-eyed houris he wishes." [Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi]

Abu Hurayra reported that a man said to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Give me counsel." He said, "Do not get angry." He repeated his request several times and he said, "Do not get angry." [Bukhari]


Lessons from Hajj

"For Hajj are the months well known. If anyone undertakes that duty therein let there be no obscenity or wickedness nor wrangling in the Hajj. And whatever good you do Allah knows it. And take a provision for the journey but the best of provisions is right conduct. So fear Me. O Men of understanding." [TMQ Al-Baqarah:197]

Abu Huraira narrated that Allah's Messenger was asked, "What is the best deed?" He replied, "To believe in Allah and His Messenger." The questioner then asked, "What is the next (in goodness)?" He replied, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's Cause." The questioner again asked, "What is the next?" He replied, "To perform Hajj 'Mubrur." [Bukhari]

Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet said, "Whoever performs Hajj for Allah's pleasure and does not have sexual relations with his wife, and does not do evil or sins then he will return as if he were born anew." [Bukhari]

Some of the lessons that can we learn from the Hajj:

1) Unity
If we look to Islam we see that many of the Shariah rules demonstrate the concept of unity of the Ummah, Hajj is one of them. It is a time where the believers gather in unison to worship their Lord reciting the Talbiya which the Messenger recited.

Abdullah bin 'Umar narrated that the Talbiya of Allah's Messenger was : 'Labbaika Allahumma labbaik, Labbaika la sharika Laka labbaik, Inna-l-hamda wan-ni'mata Laka walmulk, La sharika Laka'. "I respond to Your call O Allah, I respond to Your call, and I am obedient to Your orders, You have no partner, I respond to Your call All the praises and blessings are for You, All the sovereignty is for You, And You have no partners with you." [Bukhari]

Indeed one of the astonishing things about the Hajj even for the non-Muslims is that people from all colours, the black and white; people from all races - from Europe, Turkey, Indonesia, India, Africa; people from all ages - the young and the old are united in the worship to Allah and are all equal before Him. Hajj symbolises the concept of 'Ummatun Wahida' 'One Ummah'. The Muslims from all parts of the world who speak different languages and have different looks upon their faces, all perform the various obligatory acts together like the Tawaf around the Ka'ba, the running between Safa and Marwa, the stoning of the Jamarat and the wearing of the Ihram. Indeed the concept of one united Ummah with no distinction, with no racism or nationalistic divisions is a fundamental concept in Islam. Allah says: "And hold fast all together by the rope which Allah and be not divided among yourselves." [TMQ Al-Imran 3:103]

Abu Musa narrated that the Prophet said, "A believer to another believer is like a building whose different parts enforce each other." The Prophet then clasped his hands with the fingers interlaced (while saying that). [Bukhari]

The letter that Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz otherwise known as Malcolm X wrote from Makkah after performing the Hajj expresses beautifully the brotherhood of Islam, he wrote:

• "Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colours."
• "I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca, I have made my seven circuits around the Ka'ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad, I drank water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat."
• "There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colours, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white."
• "America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colours together, irrespective of their colour."
• "You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth."
• "During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana."
• "We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behaviour, and the white from their attitude."

[Extract from ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X']

The rules (Ahkam) of Islam promote unity and collectivism not nationalism and individualism. The rules of caring for your neighbours, visiting the sick, helping the believers and keeping relations with the relatives all demonstrate this. Nationalism is a concept alien to Islam because it calls for unity based on family and tribal ties, whereas Islam binds people together on the ‘aqeedah, that is, belief in Allah and His Messenger In other words, Islam calls for the bond of Islam/Deen binding us.

It was reported by Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi that the Prophet said: "Undoubtedly Allah has removed from you the pride and arrogance of the Age of Jahilliyah (Ignorance) and the glorifications of ancestors. Now people are only of two kinds: Either believers who are aware or transgressors who do wrong. You are all the children of Adam and, Adam was from clay. People should give up their pride in nations because that is a coal from the coals of hell-fire. If they do not give this up Allah will consider them lower than the lowly worm which pushes itself through dung."

It is narrated by Abu Dawud that the Messenger of Allah said, "He is not one of us who calls for ‘asabiyyah, (nationalism) or who fights for ‘asabiyyah or who dies for ‘asabiyyah."

It is transmitted by at-Tabarani and al-Hakim that in one incident some people spoke very lowly about Salman al-Farsi. They spoke of the inferiority of the Persian in relation to the Arabs, and upon hearing this the Messenger of Allah declared, "Salman belongs to ahl al-bayt (the Prophet's family)." This statement of the Messenger of Allah disassociates all links based on lineage and tribal considerations.

Some disagreement occurred between Abu Dharr and Bilal and Abu Dharr said to Bilal, "You son of a black woman." The Messenger of Allah was extremely upset by Abu Dharr's comment, so he rebuked him by saying, "That is too much, Abu Dharr. He who has a white mother has no advantage which makes him better than the son of a black mother." This rebuke had a profound effect on Abu Dharr, who then put his head on the ground swearing that he would not raise it until Bilal had put his foot over it.

2) Story of Ibrahim and his adherence to the Shariah

We should take a lesson from the well known story of Ibrahim (as) and his son Ismael (as). Allah informs of his story in the Quran, "O my Lord! grant me a righteous (son)! So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear. Then when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him he said: 'O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: now see what is thy view!' (The son) said: 'O my father! do as you are commanded: you will find me if Allah so wills one practicing Patience and Constancy! So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah) and He had laid Him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice) We called out to him 'O Ibrahim! You have already fulfilled the vision!' thus indeed do We reward those who do right." [TMQ As-Saffat: 100-105]

If one we ponder over the story of Ibrahim carefully we find that Allah ordered His believing slave, Ibrahim, to slaughter his beloved son! Both the father and the son fully submitted to the order of Allah without questioning it. Ibrahim didn't look for a reason for the command that Allah gave him, nor did Ismael knowing that he was going to be sacrificed. Rather they both willingly accepted the decision of Allah, because they realised that He was the creator and that their purpose was to worship Him. The lesson we can learn from this is to submit to the orders of Allah whether Allah has given us a reason for them or not.

3) Eid - a celebration from Islam

As Muslims we have a unique Deen and have our own celebrations, the two eids. We should not fall into celebrating non-Muslim festivals as this is haram such as Christmas, Divali, celebration of independence days, etc. Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger said, "He is not one of us who imitates other than us. Do not imitate the Jews and the Christians." [At- Tirmidhi]

Al-Baihaqi reported in his Sunan that Anas Bin Malik said: When the Prophet came to Medina, the people had two holidays from the days of Jahiliyyah. He said: "When I came to you, you had two days which you used to celebrate in Jahiliyyah. Allah has replaced them for you with better days, the days of slaughter (Adhaa) and the day of Fitr." Also Imam Ahmad in his Musnad reported that Uqbah bin Amir reported the Prophet to have said: "The day of Fitr and days of Tashriq are our holidays, the people of Islam."

Indeed, Eid al Adha is a time of celebration for over one billion people around the globe. Although we will perform the slaughter, pray the Eid Salah and play with the children on this day our hearts and our minds will not be at ease due to suffering felt by our brothers and sisters around the world.