This I believe

I was recently asked to join a forum founded by some people who I interacted with during my days on ChristianForums. It's definately different from most other boards I've been on, seeing as how they ask you what your superhero name would be when you sign up, among other interesting questions. One of the subsections is titled "This I believe - Non-confrontational discussion of what matters to you." After my introductory post, this was the first place I went. Although I am fairly firm in my beliefs, I've never actually sat down and written them out. It was a very useful exercise, and one I enjoyed. I think it's a little too religious for the NPR "This I believe" series, but I'm pretty proud of it.

At the very base of my belief is la ilaha il Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah – there is nothing worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God. But what does it mean to worship only God, and to believe that Muhammad (saws) is His messenger? It means to practice Islam, have Iman (faith) and to strive of Ihsan (excellence).

This is explained in the hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) that is recorded as saheeh (authentic) in the hadith collection of Muslim:


Also on the authority of 'Umar, (ra), who said:
"While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah (saws) there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him.

He sat down close by the Prophet (saws) rested his knee against his thighs, and said, O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam." Said the Messenger of Allah (saws), "Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah, fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it)." Said he (the man), "You have spoken truly."

We were astonished at his thus questioning him and telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, "Inform me about iman (faith)." He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, "It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects." He said, "You have spoken truly."

Then he (the man) said, "Inform me about Ihsan." He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, "It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you." He said, "Inform me about the Hour." He (the Messenger of Allah) said, "About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner." So he said, "Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i.e. of its coming)." Said he, "They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings." Thereupon the man went off.

I waited a while, and then he (the Messenger of Allah) said, "O 'Umar, do you know who that questioner was?" I replied, "Allah and His Messenger know better." He said, "That was Jibril (Gabriel). He came to teach you your religion."

This hadith relates the basics of Islam, and if you asked just about any muslim in the world about the contents of this hadith, they would say that they believe what is discussed in it, even if they don’t practice it.

Islam and Iman are rather straight foward. One does the practices, and studies the beliefs. But Ihsan is a bit more tricky. How does one strive for excellence, and remind themselves to always be aware of Allah (swt). On a personal level, I strive for ihsan through adab. Adab is superficially translated as manners, but as with many words in Arabic, a single English word cannot encompass all its meaning. Adab is courtesy, respect, kindness and appropriateness. It is the etiquette and moral code muslims should live their lives by. I am dedicated to adab as a way to live my beliefs in my everyday life, and I hope one day inshaAllah (God willing) to become a scholar in adab and teach it to others. I believe that the muslim community lacks adab, does not understand how to interact with their fellow human beings, and that the root cause of social problems lies in ignorance or just plain ignoring adab.

I believe in the essential goodness and kindness of the Prophet’s message. I also believe that this goodness and kindness is something all muslims should strive to emulate in their daily life. Some people selectively read the Prophet’s biography and see him only as a murdering pedophilic warlord. inshaAllah at a later date, I may write about what I believe about the Prophet (saws), but for this entry, it should suffice that I say that I believe when one reads his whole life story, they will come away with a framework for how to live a good, decent, fulfilling life, in service to God, and with kindness towards fellow man.

There is a hadith that reports that God is beautiful, and that He loves beauty. There is a further hadith that states that “Kindness is not to be found in anything but that it adds to its beauty and it is not withdrawn from anything but it makes it defective.”

I believe every action in our life should be imbued with kindness, thus making us beautiful, and loved by God. If you try to put kindness in every action, it will profoundly affect the way humans interact with each other, from the bottom, all the way up to the top.

So, in conclusion, I believe that la ilaha il Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah leads me to put kindness in every action, and to treat my fellow man with kindness. This is adab, this is ihsan, this is worship of the Divine.

Content of Character

My favorite blogger, Sunni Sister, has finally gotten a computer and is back! As a prelude to her blogging manifesto, she has posted a number of ahadith from Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's translation of Sheikh al Amin Ali Mazrui's "The Content of Character." This book is definately on my to read list.

These ahadith are a representation of another reason I am muslim - the focus on good character. Islam tells us to be good people. It's unfortunate so many muslims forget this. Again, I marvel at the possible future we would have, if only muslims lived Islam.

The Messenger of Allah, sallalahu aleyhi wa ‘ala ahlihi wa sahbihi wa
salaam, said:

“Keep God in mind wherever you are; follow a wrong with a right that offsets it; and treat people courteously.” (Tirmidhi)

“Love for humanity is what you love for yourself.” (Bukhari)

“After obligatory rites, the action most beloved to God is delighting other Muslims.” (Tabarani)

“Should you ever become eager to mention another’s faults, recall your own.” (Rafi’i)

“If your good deeds delight you and your foul deeds distress you, you are a believer.” (Diyya)

“Abandon desire for this world, and God will love you. Abandon desire for others’ goods, and people will love you.” (Ibn Majah)

“The most virtuous behavior is to engage those who sever relations, to give to those who withhold from you, and to forgive those who wrong you.” (Tabarani)

“True spiritual excellence is devotion to God as if you see Him; and though you do not see Him, you at least know that He sees you.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

“What enables people to enter Paradise more than anything is piety and good character.” (Tirmidhi)

“The majority of man’s sins emanate from his tongue.” (Tabarani)

“The servants God loves most are those most sincere with God’s servants.” (Imam Ahmad)

“May God have mercy on a servant who spoke well and gained good, or kept silent and avoided harm.” (ibn al Mubarak)

“Consider well contentment, for it is a treasure without end.” (Tabarani)

“A person has done enough wrong in his life if he simply repeats everything he hears.” (Muslim)

“Veiling the thoughts of the faithful is akin to restoring life to the dead.” (Tabarani)”

“God veils the faults of anyone who suppresses his anger.” (ibn Abi ad Dunya)

“Whoever has no shame before others has no shame before God.” (Tabarani)

“The Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

“A person’s spiritual practice is only as good as that of his close friends; so consider well whom you befriend.” (Tirmidhi)

“Speak the truth even though it be bitter.” (ibn Hibban)

“Fulfillment is not plenty of goods; rather it is self-fulfillment.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

“Gentleness never accompanies anything without enhancing it, nor is it ever removed from anything without demeaning it.” (Bayhaqi)

“Beautiful Islam entails minding one’s own business.” (Tirmidhi)

Why am I a muslim?

I'm a horrible blogger *hangs head in shame* I went away to visit my grandma this weekend, got stuck in the snow, learned how to knit, went coat shopping and completely neglected my blog.

Prior to this blog, I kept a livejournal where I would occasionally dabble in religious topics. One of my favorites was an entry I wrote while slacking off in my computerized legal research class nearly a year ago. Why am I dragging up my ancient online journalling past? I would like to do a series of entries on the reasons I am a muslim. This entry explains one of the major reasons:

It is recorded that the blessed prophet of God, Muhammad (saws) said:

"Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith." (recorded in the hadith collection of Muslim)

"Whoever is kind, Allah will be kind to him; therefore be kind to man on the earth. He Who is in heaven will show mercy on you." (recorded in Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi)

"Allah will not give mercy to anyone, except those who give mercy to other creatures." (Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi)

People often wonder why I converted to Islam. For most, it's difficult to grasp why a semi radical feminist, lover of the environment and all around liberal would embrace a faith that is characterized by bearded foreign terrorists and mullahs who foam at the mouth while threatening everyone with death.

It's difficult to explain, and oft times, I'm left rambling on, stammering something or other that leaves the person completely unsatisfied and possibly thinking that I'm brainwashed. I wish I had the words to express what it is that has drawn me to this faith.

Part of the reason I can't explain it well is that there are some rather complex theology issues that don't lend themselves well to a simple explanation. But, another reason is that it is hard to explain to someone who is only familiar with the negatives of muslims (and oh, do we have a lot of negatives) that I am, as a 21st century midwestern american woman, truly, deeply, madly love a man who lived and died 1400 years ago.

When I sit down and read the seerah (biography) of the Prophet (saws), something inside me feels a true connection to him, and although I never will know him in this life (perhaps in the hereafter inshaAllah!), he has had a profound impact on how I live my life. Hadith like those at the start of the post get me through each day.

I was going to go into some deep thoughts on the Prophet (saws), but alas, I'm in my computerized legal research and need to pay some attention to what the prof is saying. So, I'll say this:

If one wants to know about muslims, read a biography of the Prophet (saws). Don't just read about the battles he fought, or the typical things polemicists will trot out to "prove" muslims are violent because the Prophet (saws) was. Read his life from the beginning until the end.

Part of the reason I am posting is that we are now in the Islamic month Rabi ‘Awwal. In this month, the Prophet Muhammad (saws) was born. Across the muslim world, we celebrate his birth in the Mawlid an-Nabi. CAIR (aka Council on American Islamic Relations) has a website dedicated towards education about the Prophet Muhammad (saws). On it, you can order (for free!) a copy of the PBS documentary about the Prophet (saws). Unfortunately, they're really slow about sending them out.