Sending Salam on the Beloved [milad un Nabi pt2]

O Messenger of Allah! May salutations be upon you.
O Messenger of Allah! May salutations be upon you.
O Messenger of Allah! May salutations be upon you.

O the Most exalted by Allah! May salutations be upon you.

O the Best of all the creations of Allah! May salutations be upon you.

O the Beloved of Allah! May salutations be upon you.

O the Leader of all Messengers! May salutations be upon you.

O the Last of all the Messengers! May salutations be upon you.

O the Messenger of the Lord of All the worlds! May salutations be upon you.

O the Warner! May salutations be upon you.

May salutations be upon you, and upon your chaste and pious family members.
May salutations be upon you, and upon your chaste wives who are the mothers of the believers.
May salutations be upon you and your Companions.
May salutations be upon you and upon all the Nabis and Messengers of Allah; and upon all the righteous servants of Allah.

Burda Night [ Milad un Nabi pt 1]

Subhannallah.

From Protest to Engagement [ Habib Ali ]

"And We wished to showe benefit on those who had been subjugated"

The fruit of the end of tyranny is not in the hand of the tyrant, nor of the one who is tyrannised.
The oppressor can beat you, deprive you, deny you of your rights, but he can never take your faith and belief in Allah from you!!

Patience...

why have patience?

If one has certainty with the sight of God, the fruit of patience is that you be made as an example for other people

If we are at a stage when calling for moderation is an insult-then we have gone so so far away from the true faith-when we are being asked to come back.

"Truley i came exclusively to perfect good character"
The Prophet (saws) came with the best of character > and the call to Allah can only be done with the best character.

Part of this faith is engagement

If the tables were turned and we were in comfort and we did not present the message in the best way, we would be solely answerable to Allah.

This is our faith... and how wwe deal with everything and everyone is part of that

We should leave feeling we have carried a good tiding from Allah -brought from the Prophet (saws)

Protest to Engagement [sidi suhaib webb]

Allah says "and thus we have made you a moderate ummah"

This moderation is the moderation which has been ordained by Allah

The need for scholarship os moving on balance

The gift that we have as muslims is la illaha illallah -how much do we appreciate it?

We should look at the past and look at the future-but most importatnly we should look at ourselves

We need to both escape and protect the differences=none of us will go to jannah unless we love each other

We need to ask ourselves, what is the goal of islam, what does islam ask of us?

The goal of shariah is to bring benefit to the servents of Allah and prevent harm.

We need to ask what khayr [goodness] can we bring to the british society..what is waiting to be releaser from us?

Dont allow the dark clouds of hate to block out the noor [light] of the message!!!

[Subhannallah, Sidi Suhaibs talk had to be one of the most inspiring. He was able to talk about traditional islam, bringing in his own personal experiences, some contemporary examples as well as humour to the audience...again i am extremely sorry for my inability to do justice to his talk. ]

Shaykh Bin Bayyah and Hamza Yusuf

Asaalamalaikum,

Apologies on two accounts, the delay and lack again of articulacy in the notes..i didnt manage to catch the whole of Shaykh Bin Bayyah's talk :(. Here is a short clip to make up for it though, and the few notes i made..May Allah forgive me for my mistakes.




For more info and the official recordings, check out www.radicalmiddleway.com

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How do we become part of the solution?

There was a time when Islam wasnt in the headlines and the Islamic World was quiet. The question which is important is how do we address the problem.

Some say we should boycott and cut away from it all and some say we need a war.

However the only way to address the condition is with superior values. Repell wrong with right.

The shaykh began with the hadith of the Prophet (saw) where he (saw) gave the analogy of the people on the ship. There are the 'posh' passengers on the top and the not so well off ones at the bottom. The poorer passengers want water. They don’t want to bother the posher people and ask them for help, so they start drilling a hole at the bottom of the ship to get some water. They think they’re doing everyone a favour by not bothering the other- thinking that what they are doing is correct.
But if the poeple on the top dont help those on the bottom and leave them to drill the hole in the boat, they all drown.

We are living in a time when we are on a sinking ship. We should help those drilling the hole and refrai from it taking us all down.
There are two types of people in the world:
1) those drilling the hole in the ship and
2) and those who need to stop those fools drilling the hole; restrain their foolishness and save all of us

Another question is how we should constrain the fools > we are infected by those who dont have true knowledge. We are not reponsible for others crimes. "No soul shall bear the burden of another soul"

-

In the diversity Allah has created, there is beauty.

Tolerece does not come out of a vaccume, it comes from intellegence. We have to use the means we have been given.

We should not become perturbed by the opposition, because thats the nature of doing good.

Allah has given us the answers to a lot of the atrocities by the verse that tells us to return bad actions against us with the good and the right. But only those with patience will be successful in this. These are Quranic principles which need to be followed.

The human condition is filled with dark realities- but we shouldnt just sit and despair- we should seek the dawn and the light. DONT DESPAIR of the mercy of Allah.

What we share together is much greater than that which seperates us.
-

There shouldnt be any conflict in being British and Muslim. These arnt mututally exclusive things.

Ihsan transcends justice. Justice is unbiased. Ihsan is when you care about them and when you want to give them more than they deserve..and you love them.

The Quran is the way to Ihsam.

Have consciousness of Allah wherever you are.

From Protest To Engagement [Prof. Tariq Ramadan]

Asalamalaikum

When talking about the event, a lot of folk I spoke to were highly impressed by Proffessor Tariq Ramadan's talk. I mut say, it was pretty hard hitting. Talking from a social perspective and linking it to the religion and practice of Islam on many issues, both in the classical and contemporary context, he makes it is easy to understand and to agree with. I apologise now, for my mish mash notes. May Allah forgive me for any mistakes. I had to move seats in the middle of the event and therefore was not as well settled, however, for much better flowing notes, i would reccomend yall to check out Sister Usma's blog post about the event and her notes.

[Professor Tariq Ramadan holds MA in Philosophy and French literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In Cairo, Egypt he received intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University. Professor Tariq Ramadan taught Islamic Studies and Philosophy as a professor at Freiburg University in Switzerland for many years. Professor Ramadan lectures at academic institutions and civic organizations around the world. He is a member of multiple international organizations and steering committees, and has authored and co-authored over 20 books and over 700 articles including ‘Western Muslims and the Future of Islam’. Through his writings and lectures he has contributed substantially to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. He is active both at the academic and grassroots levels, lecturing extensively throughout the world on ethics of citizenship, social justice, and dialogue between civilizations. He is currently Senior Research Fellow St Antony’s College (Oxford) and at Lokahi Foundation (London). Professor Tariq Ramadan is also President of the European think tank, European Muslim Network (EMN) in Brussels. ]

Professor Tariq Ramadan

At the end of the day it should be a love story between us and the Beloved Prophet (saws) -and we should study every aspect of his life.

When everyone is sleeping, we should wake up. [ i think he meant both spiritually and physically..?... could someone please correct my memory? ]

To call is to re call -when you are calling people to Islam, you are actually recalling them.

Know that the knowledge of Islam is between Allah and your heart.

The first sign is to answer the question why. If you dont knwo the answer, then turn back to Allah to ask.

The roots should be iman and iman is rooted in your heart. I the roots are strong, you will be strong. If you are uprootes, you are weak, merely being swayed by everything around you, but you are not form spiritual identity as you are trying to achieve as a muslim.

TO PROTEST IS TO BE ENGAGED.

The essential first thing we need, living in oor own society, is confidence.

Everyone of us is asked to seek knowlege.

The business of conferences is becoming a fashion nowadays, it this is not education. Education is to sit with the book of Allah everyday. We cry for an hour and then forget for two weeks.

Scholars are not stars, they are educators. Stars believe that the audience is there to serve them, whereas the scholars believe they are there to serve the community.

Be a gift. To be a gift is to be a question. What is your gift?

To serve Allah is to serve the people. The best of people are those who are of benefit to others. He who wants to serve Allah, should serve the people.

Justice is universal. It is not just for the muslims.

The point is critical contribution. -> you need to be the voice of the voiceless.

From Protest to Engagement [Shaykh Ali Gomaa]

Asalamalaikum

So here is part 3, and sorry for taking time, but its just about digesting one peice of the beautiful pie at a time, rather than stuffing it, ya know.

So alhamdulilah, it is now being shown on Islam Channel aswell, May Allah reward them for their efforts. Inshallah you can check www.islamchannel.tv for more info. And i think its also going to be online soon www.radicalmiddleway.com for more info on that and other events.

On the wonderful evening that was Saturday 24th February, up third spoke Shaykh Ali Gomaa, the grand Mufti of Egypt. I hadn't heard him speak before, but mashallah, i was truely enlightened by his talk and the focus to our Beloved Rasool [saws]. It really got one to think of the example set by our Rasool, and where as an ummah, as individuals too, we are going.

[[Sheikh Ali Gomaa is the Grand Mufti of Egypt. He is considered to be one of the most respected and qualified traditional Islamic scholars alive. He specializes in the science of the foundations of Islamic Law, following the Shaf'i school of Islamic juruspudence.
Shaikh Ali Gomaa is also the khateeb (the Orator) of the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo and has authored around two dozen books on various highly specialized and complex subjects of Islam. He is the Editor of the Encyclopaedia of Hadith, a sub-project of the greater Sunnah Project of the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, which aims at documenting and publishing all works related to Prophetic narrations or Hadith.]]

Shaykh Ali Gomaa

We should think how we relate to the life of Muhammad (saws)

The Seerah needs to be read in a new way, so we can learn to live like the Prophet (saws) in our daily lives -> if we do this then all the real problems will disappear, and we will be left the truth of the message.

The solution to the present problems we are facing is to remain patient.

The problems have been created by us though, through living far from the message brought by the Prophet (saws).

We think we are doing good works, but in reality we are doing harm [this one hit hard!]

The way we can focus is through following the example of the Prophet [saws]. How should we read and live the seerah? We need to examine our lives.

What do we want from our lives? Do we want the Prophet (saws) as our example-or someone else? we need to ask ourselves this.

His entire life, from begining to end, is a guidance for us.

At one time, he was not known as a Muslim. At another time, he was the head of the Muslims.

He lived in all kinds of situations. -he was a lone bachelor -a married man -a father/family man -a trader -a judge -a leader of the army- -a teacher. He knew how to behave in the best of ways, in all possibilities.

[ the shaykh then went into detail about how he was with children and the mercy he showed -the best of mercy he exemplified when dealing with children]

We can be like the Prophet in any situation we are in and learn from his great example.

From Protest to Engagement [Abdul Hakim Murad]

Asalamalaikum.

Here is the next part of my notes. Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad spoke second, and it was a good thing he did so. Everyone still seemed relatively fresh and aware, and with Shaykh Murad's deep analogy into ever matter, with his great long intellectual explanations, trust, one needs to be awake! Mashallah, seeing Shaykh Murad, i am always, every time in awe at the intellect of man all granted by our Creator. Allah grants different people different talents and gifts, and seeing someone so academically aware, who forces you to not only think of the topic, but also forces you to contemplate the long words-Allahuakbar! I am always intrigued by his talks and such interesting perceptions.

[Short bio: Timothy Winter (also known as Abdal-Hakim Murad) is a lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge and a leading British Islamic Scholar. Originally from a Norfolk non-conformist background, he is a convert to Islam. He graduated with a first-class honours MA in Arabic from Cambridge, going on to study at the Al-Azhar University in Egypt. In 1989 he returned to Britain and studied Turkish and Persion. He o then obtained a doctorate at Oxford University were he studied the religious life in the Ottoman Empire. He has translated into English some sections of the Ihya Ulum al-Din of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali - "Remembrance of Death and the After Life" ]

Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad

La illaha illallah -> The simple thing without which nothing can go right.

Nowadays we are focused on dividing tribally, we divide between muslim and non muslim, we have a tribal mentality. Before, the Ulema only looked to truth and falsehood, they only looked to the light and darkness. They looked to the right and the wrong and that too not merely in the sense of this material world.

Allah has granted us a fitra, which can understand betwen the light and truth and the darkness.

This tribal and divisionalist mentality that we now carry, this is a backword mentality.

Behind all the doctrines and differences there is still human consciousness. A soul- just like yours.

When we think of differenciating and attacking another, we should remember, that they too have something special inside them, they too have a soul.

It shouldn't be 'them' vs' 'us', but rather 'truth' vs 'falsehood'.

It is imortant to remember that eveyone can potentially be of the Ummah of Rasoolullah.

We should make sure that even our enemies do not have something to speak out against us of the Day of Judgement, that they do not say "so and so, who i used to see every morning on my way to work, did not invite me to the deen, did not embrace me"

If we want to be taken seriously as an ummah, we should not continue our tribal mentality, we should not continue behaving like a tribe... how then can we be taken seriously?

[ The Shaykh then related a Rumi story, about the mother whose baby was crying and wouldn't stop. She had tried to give the baby everything, some dates, some coffee, some sweets, but still the baby wouldnt stop crying. It didnt occur to her, that what the baby was craving the most, was what she was not giving him, the baby needed the natural milk of his mother to put him at ease. Similarly is the case with humanity and the ummah..what we need is dhikr, and the best form of dhikr is 'la illaha illallah' -'there is no God except Allah'. ]

Strength is with the believers who dont merely say 'la illaha illallah', but have it engraved in their hearts.