Miracles, Myths, Mistakes and Matters — See Title Page and List of Contents
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Refuting the gross distortion and misrepresentation of the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad and Islam, made by the critics of Islam
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As Islam Grows, U.S. Imams In Short Supply
by John Burnett
NPR – February 10, 2013
Islam in America is growing exponentially. From 2000 to 2010, the number of mosques in the United States jumped 74 percent.
Today, there are more than 2,100 American mosques but they have a challenge: There aren’t enough imams, or spiritual leaders, to go around.
The Mid-Cities Mosque in Colleyville, Texas, has two modest minarets that distinguish it as a sacred building here in this sedate suburb between Fort Worth and Dallas. It’s trimmed in green lights — the color of Islam. A Dallas Muslim Yellow Pages sits in a rack outside the doors.
Inside, maghrib prayers, after sunset, are commencing. A husky young imam dressed in a sand-colored tunic closes his eyes and leans into a microphone. A dozen men stand barefoot, elbow-to-elbow on a green carpet, in quietude.
The 200 mostly Pakistani-American members of this small Texas mosque are lucky to have a full-time, American-born imam. There’s an acute imam shortage in America, the result of supply, and demand, says Nouman Ali Khan.
“I’ve had the opportunity to travel to maybe 150 mosques across the country. And the vast majority of them, actually, did not have a full-time imam,” says Ali Khan, who heads Bayyinah, an Arabic-language institute in Dallas that educates future imams. “The ones that did are very happy to have them and the ones that didn’t are constantly asking me when I go for a seminar, ‘Hey, so you know anybody?'”
Separated geographically from the rest of Islam, he says American Muslims must find their own way, must invent their own traditions.
In Islamic countries, mosques and imams are supported by the state. Here in the U.S., they are private just like any church. Moreover, they are likely to serve as religious and community centers for their ethnically distinct congregation.
Indeed, American mosques are filled with Muslims from many different countries. And increasingly they’re the spiritual home of native-born Muslims whose identities are completely American.
Some young Muslims feel alienated from the mosque and from religious culture altogether. So U.S. mosques not only need imams trained in classical Islam, but who possess good English skills and a thorough understanding of American culture.
“You may have a scholarly religious figure that can speak to the older congregation, but he’s not able to connect as well with the youth,” Ali Khan says. “And in a lot of the interviews, it’s even sort of a primary concern how well can you connect with the young in our community.”
The Islamic Association of Mid-Cities went without an imam for 15 months before it finally chose Yahya Jaekoma. He’s a cherubic, 23-year-old of Thai and Afghan descent, who was born in San Diego.
“I was a sponsored skater at the age of 10 … and after breaking my arm, my grandmother told me I [had] to put it off,” Jaekoma explains. “So she sent me to a madrassa, which is an institute to study the Quran, at the age of 14.”
By the time he was 18, Jaekoma had memorized the entire Quran and dedicated his life to religious study. But his time as a hip-hop skateboarder gives him a unique voice for the youth in his mosque.
“I tell them my life story,” he says. “I tell them where I came from. I tell them what I’ve done.”
The youth group at the Mid-Cities mosque includes Sijil Patel, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American who is thoroughly modern with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, crazy-colored sneakers, and a headscarf.
“By having someone that was born here, it’s easier to relate to them, and it’s easier for them to understand our view on what we’re dealing with and, like, the difficulties we have with our faith in, like, such a modern environment,” Patel says.
Some of those things include dating, sex, drugs, alcohol and profanity.
“We’ve been strictly taught in Islam that vulgar language is not allowed,” Patel says. “I try my best to, like, not engage in that type of thing, and I’ve told my friends, too.”
A recent survey by the Islamic Society of North America reports that only 44 percent of American imams are salaried and full-time. The rest are volunteer religious leaders. Four out of five imams here were born and educated outside the United States, mostly in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.
“I can count the number of institutions that prepare imams in the U.S. on three fingers,” says Jihad Turk, president the Bayan Claremont Islamic graduate school in Southern California.
Turk estimates that his institution, Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, and Zaytuna College in the San Francisco Bay Area will, collectively, graduate fewer than 30 Koranic scholars this year.
This handful of newly minted American imams should have no trouble at all finding work. [Copyright 2013 NPR]
Sir Patrick Moore, the famous British astronomer who died today, is reported to have said last year:
“I’m near the end of my life now. It doesn’t worry me. I don’t think it ends here, you see. If it did, the entire thing would be pointless, but the universe is not pointless. No, this isn’t the end. We go on to the next stage. I shall be interested to see what it is.”
This reminded me of what Maulana Muhammad Ali wrote under ‘Life after Death’ in his book The Religion of Islam:
“It cannot be that the whole of creation should serve a purpose and that man alone who is lord of it and endowed with capabilities for ruling the universe, should have a purposeless existence. It is the Resurrection alone that solves this difficulty. Man has a higher object to fulfill, he has a higher life to live beyond this world; which is the aim of human life in this world.”
At this link you can read my presentation at a meeting at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, England, on 17th November 2012, on the subject of Islam and Human Rights, which I was invited to give.
In connection with their series History of the World by Andrew Marr, the BBC asked for “suggestions for often overlooked moments in world history”, and published the top 10 suggestions.
The suggestion ranking number 3 is “3. Alhazen and his work on optics”. He is described as the first true scientist because he seems to have been the first to use the scientific method. I quote:
Ibn al-Haytham was born in about 965 in what is now Iraq, and is regarded by some by some as the real father of the scientific method, predating Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes in the 17th Century.
Al-Haytham was the first to disprove the theory that we see objects by rays of light emitted from our eyes, realising instead that we see because light enters our eyes.
No other scientist before him had used maths to prove this process, says Prof Jim Al-Khalili from the University of Surrey.
“When the great scientific revolution took place in Europe, science had advanced so much that people forgot it was built on previous knowledge.”
Al-Haytham was part of the golden age of Arabic science, and while Europe was stuck in the Dark Ages, he filled the gap, says Al-Khalili.
The above item also refers to an article entitled The First True Scientist.
I looked up more information about him and found two interesting in scientific journals about the use of his discoveries even now:
Ibn al-Haytham and the origins of computerized image analysis (Conference paper in 2007 at the International Conference on Computer Engineering & Systems; website of ieee.org)
The remarkable Ibn al-Haytham (The Mathematical Gazatte, March 1992).
(Note: If you have problems reaching these links, please let me know.)
In the first paper above, it is stated in the abstract (bolding is mine):
“Haytham made intellectual contributions that subsequently were incorporated throughout the core of post-Medieval Western culture. His seminal work on the human vision system initiated an unbroken chain of continuous development that connects 21st century optical scientists with the 11th century Ibn al-Haytham. The noted science historian, David Lindberg, wrote that “Alhazen was undoubtedly the most significant figure in the history of optics between antiquity and the seventeenth century.” Impressive and accurate as that characterization is, it significantly understates the impact that al-Haytham had on areas as wide-ranging as the theology, literature, art, and science of Europe.”
I wonder how many Muslims, let alone non-Muslims, had heard of him.
Link to pdf file of the message
Text of the message
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
“And be not like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them. And for them is a grievous chastisement.” The Holy Qur’an, 3:104
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaato Hu.
On this happy occasion of Eid ul Adha, I would want us to remember that all Islamic prayers and devotional acts remind us that the true path to Allah is in the unity of human beings. This unity is exemplified by all followers praying towards the Ka‘bah and bowing and prostrating at the same time. They fast in the same month following the same code of fasting. Together they also perform the pilgrimage to Makkah and go around the Ka‘bah dressed in the same apparel, chanting the same prayers. All colours, creeds and nationalities move in the same direction – all three million or so every year. No gender discrimination, no sectarian hatred, no nationality bias; just the true spirit of Islam fully focused on One Allah and one Ummah.
All Muslims believe in the same Oneness of God, Allah, and the same final prophet, Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the same revealed Book of Allah, the Holy Qur’an. We all believe in the absolute finality of prophethood and follow the same tenets of Islam. We all have faith that the commandments of Allah revealed in the Qur’an and shown in practice by the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, have to be followed.
Now Muslims, having fulfilled their lifetime dream of performing the most coveted of worships, i.e. Hajj, are returning home. However, it will be tragic if they forget the spirit of Hajj – the spirit of unity, the spirit of love and the spirit of hatred for none – and return to the same disunity, hatred, bigotry and defamation and, in some cases, back to terrorism and taking lives of innocent men and women, not even sparing children. In doing so they forget the injunctions of Islam as stated in the verse I have cited above.
Sisters and Brothers,
Let us all pray that this Eid will be different. That this time after performing the pilgrimage we will be celebrating Eid with the firm resolve to remain united, “And be not like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them”.
I pray that Muslims all over the world live in harmony, not only with other Muslims but with people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds.
Aameen.
Professor Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed
Ameer and President
Worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement
24th September 1912 was the day when Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din arrived in England for the first time. During this first visit, which lasted till August 1914, he established “The Islamic Review” monthly journal and the Woking Muslim Mission in 1913.
As the website creator and maintainer of the website www.wokingmuslim.org I felt it my duty to mark the 100th anniversary of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din’s arrival. I have compiled an 8-page commemorative leaflet, with a 4-page insert of photographs that can go inside the leaflet, for this occasion. I hope it is interesting and informative.
Zahid Aziz
23rd September 2012
It is a matter of great sadness and loss for our Movement, as well as very painful and distressing to me personally, that Qazi Abdul Ahad, Librarian of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore Library, has passed away in Lahore on Monday 17th September 2012. The news of his death and some details of his life can be read at this link.
The title “Librarian” does not do justice to his work and contribution. He was much more a walking library of accurate and detailed knowledge than a librarian. More than that, he had great mastery over the Arabic language and grammar. He was a hafiz of the Holy Quran and had extensive knowledge of Hadith, classical Islamic literature, and Ahmadiyya writings, whether books or periodicals. At the same time, he was the most modest and humblest of people, and ever willing to help others with the benefit of his knowledge, especially of the contents of the Library.
I remember how happy and proud he used to be if any of his students showed interest in pursuing knowledge of the Arabic language at an advanced level.
Upon hearing the news of his death, I sent the following note to our Lahore Centre:
The late Qazi sahib was of enormous help to me in locating material in the Darus Salaam Library for more than thirty years. During the 1980s, in the days before electronic scanning of documents, he undertook at my request, which was channeled through the late Dr Saeed Ahmad Khan sahib, to photocopy all the articles of Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi from Paigham Sulah and Ruh-i Islam. I have all that massive material in my possession, and have recently started publishing it on a website.
It is simply staggering to think of all those references and quotations from the Quran, Hadith collections, Islamic classical literature, and Ahmadiyya writings, which flowed from Qazi sahib’s lips. Then, before the days of the Internet, the large number of indispensable books that were long out of print, which he photocopied by hand, and bound, and made accessible to people, was a tremendous service rendered by him.
Our only consolation is:
“Everyone on it passes away — And there endures forever the person of thy Lord, the Lord of glory and honour.” (55:26-27)
Inna li-lllahi wa inna ilai-hi rajioon.
May Allah admit Qazi sahib to His great mercy, shower upon him His blessings profusely, raise him to high ranks, and join him with our departed elders — Ameen and Ameen again.
Zahid Aziz.
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.
BBC has produced documentary on early 20th century British Muslim Converts. Documentary sheds light on lives of three prominent converts: William Abdullah Quilliam, Lord Headley, and Marmaduke Pickthall. Film also shows scenes of Shah Jehan Mosque/ Woking Muslim Mission. At 14:19 it looks like Maulana Sadar ud Din is delivering lecture.
One think thing that disappointed me is comments by Humayun Ansari, Professor of the History of Islam, Royal Holloway, University of London. Professor Ansari has distorted history just to hide the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement connection with three Muslim converts in documentary.
I would suggest this documentary is stored in Woking Muslim Mission website maintained by LAM, UK.
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.
Members of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement know Imam Kamal Hydal. He is from Trinidad. He did Mubaligh a course at our headquarters in Lahore. I came across a documentary ‘Islam Vs Islamists’. In this clip Imam Hydal is interviewed by a Muslim activist of Pakistani origin in Canada Mr. Tarek Fatah. Please watch video at 17:17. I could not find the complete interview on internet. If someone finds it, please post the link. Thanks.
http://www.radicalislam.org/videos/watch-pbss-banned-documentary-islam-vs-islamists
According to the website www.moonsighting.com the declaration in court in Saudi Arabia that the new moon had been sighted there on Thursday evening (19th July) and thus the 1st of Ramadan would be on Friday 20th July is mistaken.
According to the website, it would have been impossible to see the new moon almost anywhere in the world (and certainly in Saudi Arabia) on 19th July. It says:
“Seen (Saudi Announcement): Mrs. Lubna Shawly (MCW member) from Jiddah reported: It is announced in the Saudi courts, according to the observation of the new moon (moon is sighted in areas of Sudair & Shagra), and that the first day of Ramadan for the year 1433 Hijrah will be on Friday the 20th of July 2012. Moonsighting.com opinion is that this is a mistaken claim of sighting.” (See link. Here scroll down to Saudi Arabia under Sighting reports)
The actual Saudi announcement is quoted as follows:
“The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia held a meeting in Taif this evening on Thursday the twenty-ninth of Shaaban 1433 AH, for the new moon of Ramadan of 1433 AH. The new moon of Ramadan 1433 AH is proven in the Supreme Court this evening on Thursday the twenty-ninth of the month of Shaaban, corresponding to July 19, 2012, by the testimony of several witnesses, and as true that the Prophet, peace be upon him, he said: (Fast when you see it and stop fasting when you see it), so tomorrow, Friday, to July 20, 2012, is the 1st of Ramadan of 1433 AH.”
According to an article published by BBC Urdu the total number of Ahmadiyya community in India is One hundred thousand.…
----Jul 27, 18:49