What they Say about Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

Q: how do you respond to the attacks against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?

A:
As for responding to people saying things against the Prophet of Islam Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, it is very easy. Most of these times these people are bigoted and filled with hate and ignorance and base their attacks on emotion and false assumptions so its best not to waste your time with them. But if they are sincere open minded people, I simply share with them with what accredited knowledgeable unbiased non Muslim scholars have said about him, like;

Thomas Carlyle in 'Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History,' 1840

"The lies (Western slander) which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammad) are disgraceful to ourselves only."

"A silent great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest. He was to kindle the world, the world's Maker had ordered so."

De Lacy O'Leary in 'Islam at the Crossroads,' London, 1923.

History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.

Encyclopedia Britannica, as it confirms:

(regarding Muhammad) ". . . a mass of detail in the early sources shows that he was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were likewise honest and upright men."
(Vol. 12)

Michael H. Hart, "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History." He states that the most influential person in all history was Muhammad, peace be upon him, with Jesus second. Examine his actual words:

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level."
Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, p. 33.

George Bernard Shaw, a famous writer and non-Muslim says:

"He must be called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it much needed peace and happiness."
(The Genuine Islam, Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936)

Please see the below think for many more quotes~
http://www.amaana.org/ismailim.html

Why Follow Islam- a conversation

Salam Alikom Sister,

You Wrote (whatevers between **********)

******************
Therefore even when the prophets teach many do not understand the prophets. And when the prophets die the people form religions or the people worship the prophets instead of worshiping God.

I see that the most important thing at the present time is for people to all get along with each other and respect each others beliefs. Even for me this is hard to do when people take the bible literally.
******************

As i said in the comment. The Prophets teach us the Deen, or the path to Allah, which in the west is translated as "religion." At any rate the prophets come and explain for us the Deen of Allah, Allah says what is translated as: (please try to read all these, haha i spent alot of time researching and choosing the)

2. Verily it is We Who have revealed the Book to thee in Truth: so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, to him alone is the DEEN.

3. Is it not to Allah that the sincere devotion of DEEN is due? But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful.
...
11. Say: "Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion;

12. "And I am commanded to be the first of those who bow to Allah in Islam."

13. Say: "I would, if I disobeyed my Lord, indeed have fear of the Penalty of a Mighty Day."

14. Say: "It is Allah I serve, with my sincere (and exclusive) devotion, for him alone is my DEEN: (Quran 39)



And to Him belongs all, there is in the heavens and the earth, and Deen is (rightly) His alone. Why is it, then, that you fear others the way yon should fear Him (alone)? (Quran 16:52)

2:83. Do they seek for other than the DEEN (religion) of Allah.-while all creatures in the heavens and on earth have, willing or unwilling, bowed to His Will (Accepted Islam), and to Him shall they all be brought back.

98:5. And they have been commanded no more than this: To worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith) to his DEEN; to establish regular prayer; and to practise regular charity; and that is the DEEN (Religion) Right and Straight.

10:104. Say: "O ye men! If ye are in doubt as to my DEEN (religion), (behold!) I worship not what ye worship, other than Allah. But I worship Allah - Who will take your souls (at death): I am commanded to be (in the ranks) of the Believers,

105. "And further (thus): 'set thy face towards DEEN (religion) with true piety, and never in any wise be of the Unbelievers;

106. "'Nor call on any, other than Allah.- Such will neither profit thee nor hurt thee: if thou dost, behold! thou shalt certainly be of those who do wrong.'"

12:40. "If not Him, ye worship nothing but names which ye have named,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah hath sent down no authority: the command is for none but Allah. He hath commanded that ye worship none but Him: that is the right DEEN (religion), but most men understand not...

42:21. What! have they partners (in godhead), who have established for them some DEEN (religion) without the permission of Allah. Had it not been for the Decree of Judgment, the matter would have been decided between them (at once). But verily the Wrong- doers will have a grievous Penalty.

3:19. The DEEN (Religion) before Allah is Islam (submission to His Will): Nor did the People of the Book dissent therefrom except through envy of each other, after knowledge had come to them. But if any deny the Signs of Allah, Allah is swift in calling to account.

It is He-Allah-Who sent his Messenger with true Guidance, and with the True Deen to make it triumph over other deens, caring naught what annoyance this may cause to those who associate others with Him. (Quran 9:33)
__________________
So From all these versus, it is very clear that
1. The Deen is estblished by Allah
2. Those who make paths or ideologies contrary to the will of Allah have created false deens
3. The Prophets established this deen.

!!!!!!!!! In fact Allah completed and perfected the Deen with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)!!!! Allah Says in 5:3

"This day have I perfected your DEEN (religion) for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your DEEN (religion)."

So it is clear that the Deen was perfected by the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) during his lifetime. All other so called deens are the deviations from the deen of Islam and inventions by man, Islam is the deen of allah revealed to ALL the prophets and perfected by Allah with muhammad (Pbuh)

Praise be to God that the Islam taught by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was never changed by ppl after him, and Muslims have never worshiped their Prophet after him. As a matter of fact the Prophet Muhammad cursed the people of all faiths who worshiped their prophets and holy men instead of God and warned the muslims not to do the same, and praise be to God, muslims to this day have never done such a terrible crime.

The Most important thing we must do is gain God's Pleasure. If getting along with everyone means displeasing God and turning away from the truth, then we should not try to get along with everyone. muslims are those who "ordain good and forbid evil." Nonetheless if one takes the Quran literaly, then he/she will have No problem living peacefully with the ppl of all faiths and cultures, while helping the oppressed by opposing all those who oppress others. The one who follows the quran wholly and literally will actualy treat ppl of other faiths the best. That is why although Jews and Christians could not even live peacfuly under other Jews and Christians, under Islamic Rule, they were able to live peacefully and justly.

Of course, not only can never, but you SHOULD NEVER force someone change their religion. Please pay Special Attention to verse 256 from chapter 2:

255. Allah. There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

!!!!!!256. Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things!!!!

257. Allah is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (For ever).

Of course while you can never force/coerce anyone, whoever freely chooses to believe in Allah and all his prophets has chosen the Deen of Islam.

The Best way to "help people worship and know God better" in fact the only way, is to show them the way to worship and know God, which God himself revealed which is Islam. All else are the conjectures and opinions of Human beings. Why else would God reveal Islam if it was not to be worshiped and followed. That is why Allah Says

4:64. We sent not an apostle, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of Allah. If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah.s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful.

Two important lessons in this verse is that
1. Prophets MUST be Obeyed
2. And they are to be obeyed according to the will, or deen, of Allah, on God's terms which he revealed not according to our own opinions.

So there is no doubt that the way to show ppl how to be near to allah, is only to show them what allah himself has revealed, Islam.

I guarantee you my dear sister that if you were to meet my Sheikh/spiritual master, you would definitely be surprised, and not disappointed. You will instantly see the Nour (divine Light) on his face which is so strong every non muslim thats seen him has told me about it, and feel his spiritual aura. Further his morals and actions are impecable. of course that is all the blessing of God. You Must make sure the spiritual masters you meet are the real deal and not charlatins. Just today we read about the dangers of many of those halfway on the spiritual path who begin to see them selves as spiritual masters because of a few spiritual experiences and openings god has blessed them with. It is such ppl which give the true Sheikhs a bad name.

***********
Oh but it has. The people always say my religion is better than you religion. My religion is the only true one. My prophet is better than your prophet, my spiritual Master is better than your spiritual Master. Sad but true.
**********
Right, So long as people faction and deviate from God's Deen their will be conflict, but the conflict will be comeing from those who oppose. Moses, Jesus, and Muahammad peace be upon them , all came peacefully, with peace, and the message of peace, the conflict only came from those who violently rejected them. Also no Muslim will ever say "My prophet is better than your prophet" For ALL the prophets of God are our prophets and we cannot dare insult or belittle any of them.

This is what the Allah says in the Quran in Chapter 2:

"285. The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His apostles. "WE MAKE NO distinction (they say) between one and another of His apostles." And they say: "We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys."

The Muslim, makes no distinction between any of the prophets for they are all brothers:

The Prophet Muhammad Peace be Upon Him has said:

“We, the Prophets of God are brothers, and the likeness of me and the prophets before me is like that of a beautiful building with one stone of it missing. I am the complete and final stone of this building."

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all the people to Jesus, the son of Mary There was no Prophet between him and me. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one."!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a very important concept. We in fact would follow any and all of the Prophets of God. However, the reason we Primarily follow Muhammad (pbuh) though we regularly quote and equaly honor other prophets is because his is the only message we have remaining unchanged.

For example The Quran Says in chapter 23:23. (Further, We sent a long line of prophets for your instruction). We sent Noah to his people: He said, "O my people! worship Allah. Ye have no other god but Him. Will ye not fear (Him)?"" But why do we not Follow Noah? well we do, we follow his message of islam, but the reason we do not refer to him daily is simply because we have lost his specific teachings, sayings and books. All we have left is his message "O my people! worship Allah. Ye have no other god but Him" But the instructions on how to do that given by Noah (peace be upon him) No longer exists, that is why God sent Abraham, and then moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them) and we would follow them all. But Their teachings have all been lost or distorted, but the minutest details of prophet Muhmmad peace be upon him, have still be preserved and thus we follow him as the perfect example to humanity (as other prophets were like, the diff being is his message has been preserved till today. Nonetheless a Muslim would never say "my prophet is better than your prophet" for they are all our prophets, only a non muslim who has deviated from the teachings of the prophets would say that, due to his/her misunderstanding of the universality of the Prophets and their messages.

Finaly my sister Ebelyn

"Understand that it is not the word Muslim or Islam it is the teachings that one has to understand."

True, but nontheless, why reject the name given to us By Allah and Abraham.

The Quran says "It is the faith of your father Abraham, he has called you the Muslims."

And "The Deen of Allah is Islam"

So why reject the names given to us by Allah. Anyway the important point to remember dear sister, is that these names are not nouns, but verbs. A Muslim is one who totally submits to Allah. TO say you are not muslim means you either reject God, or reject one of his teachings, otherwise, if you accept all of Gods teachings you are Muslim

In Logic "A"= "Accept ALL of Gods Teachings"
"."= "and"
and "M"= "Muslim"
"~"= "Not"

It is necessary that "A.M"
if you have ~A then You automatically have ~M according to the rules of Logic
And by the same token, if you have ~M, then you automatically and necessarily have ~A. But if you have A then by Definition, you Have M, and if you Truly have M (not just by name) then you by definition have A. Make sense? In Logic it is Impossible to have A.~M or ~A.M, because A.M are together, so you either are both, or none. So if one truly A then one is M and if one is M then they Must A.

So while the practice is the important thing, to reject the name given to us By Allah, besides being logically impossible since it is a verb and "A.M", it is also rejecting God, for to reject a ruling or name given by God in his holy book, is to reject part of his holy book, and thus rejecting God himself.

So if you practice you should be proud tot ake the name given by God and His Prophets.

Islam Calls for the straight middle path, and shuns hypocrisy as one of the worst sins. The Definition of Hypocrisy is "To Say with the tongue, what is not in The Heart, or to express outwardly what is not inward" So If one on the outward claims Islam and being a Muslim, but then does not practice, nor find importance in practicing, than that person is a hypocrite (though we should never judge an individual, this is a general principle only, god alone is the real judge) By the same token, if one believe and practices Islam but then does not utter it, than that person too is also a hypocrite (unless forced to hide their faith of course).

Islam calls for the middle path, where your heart, practice, and tongue are consistent. Where you believe Islam, Practice Islam, and Claim Islam, with no hypocrisy. Just because those people claim Islam but do not practice, does not mean we too should not claim Islam. Perhaps their claims to Islam are false, God only knows. None the less just because they do not practice and may not be really muslim does not change the truth of real Islam and the true Muslim.

A and M come together by definition so long as one REALLY A and REALLY M (really accepts all teachings and really is a Muslim) , you cannot have one without the other. yes the important thing to learn is the teachings, but since the name of the teachings is a verb, given to us by Allah, it is not fitting for us to reject is.

ahh, my brains fried, I will ned with this verse

"39:36. It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path."

I hope you take these words to heart and that we benefit from one another spiritually. And I Sincerely urge you to take to pause some time and read at least the intro and first 200 pages of Mariful Quran (Basicly the first 5 pdf's from http://www.islamibayanaat.com/EnglishMarefulQuran.htm)
I will now email you some readings, but please before else, please read the intro up to the first 200 pages of that book, i realy hope to discuss those pages with you soon.

Take care sister, and keep me in your prayers,

Peace

Tasswwuff and Suffisim In Islam

Q:

I have a quick question. I am a recent revert and have heard many things about the Sufis. I noticed in your post you mentioned many scholars of the Salaf. I have met some people who follow the Salaf that tell me the Sufis participate in things that are Bidah. Can you clear this up for my brother. I am very confused. Thanks!

A:
Walikom Al Salam Warahamatlulahi Wabraktoh,
It is a pleasure to meet you beloved brother. I actually did not write this article, but inshallah i will try to answer your question to the best of my limited ability.

Actually brother, All Muslims follow the aims of Tassawuf or Sufisim, whether they call it that or not. Our Brother in Chechneya are actually predominately Sufi. Tasawuf, is another word for Tazkiyah, which is found in the quran (meaning purification). Tasawuf is basically the path to achieving Tazkiyah. Allah Says in Surah al Shams "He is successful who Zakaha (Purifies his self)" and in Surah al Ala, "He is Successful who Tazaka (Purifies himself).

Tassawuf is the science to achieve this Tazkiyah, which all Muslims which to attain. To free their heart from love of this dunya, and from the diseases of Arrogance, lust, greed, miserliness, to have khushu in prayer, and constant thikr of Allah. The Ulema have given the name for acheiving the above required goals of Islam, Tasawuf/Suffisim. Just like the science of interpreting the Quran, which had no name at the time of the prophet (pbuh) is now called Tafsir. As the science of derving ruleings fromt he Quran and Hadith is called Fiqh, a term which also was not used at the time of the prophet. but again, the terms may not have been used, but the processes was never the less carried out.

Now if you ask our salafi brothers about the individual aims of Tassawuff mentioned above (purification of heart, remembering allah, etc.) without calling it Tassawuff/Suffisim, they will approve of it very much, saying all muslims must achive these goals. if however you take all these goals and group them together and call the process of purifying the heart Tassawuff, some people then cringe when they hear the name, even though they agree with each and every one of the individual prossecess/aims of Tassawuf.

Really those who have issues with Suffisim are those who dont really know what it means.
They have issue with it for one of two reasons. The first being that the prophet (pbuh) may have never used the term. but as i explained that is not necessary, for he certainly practiced the aims/processes of it. And there were alot of terms which Ulema have come up with to categorize the various Islamic sciences after the death of Rasululah (pbuh). See that is because the sahaba were at a level where they all mastered each and every science of Islam (like the Quran, hadith, purification, shareeah, sunnah, etc.) But after their time, the later Ulema could never achieve the level of knowledge of the Rasul (pbuh) and Sahaba, so they thus categorized the study of the meanings of Quran into Tafsir, reciting of Quran into tajweed, study of hadith into Muhaditheen, study of Islamic law into shariah, study of Islamic Ibadah into fiqh, study of purification of the heart into Tassawuf. Thus each scholar could become specialized in a field, and then learn another, untill he could master them all. Of course Tassawuf is one of the most important sciences to learn, for if you master all the other sciences (like Quran, Hadith, Shariah), but your heart is diseased, then you may have arrogance, or do it not sincerly for other than allah, and then all your knowledge and ibada will go to waste. Thus Tassawuf is a very important science. And just like one cannot become a doctor or engineer by themself, they need a teacher to help them, so too, do most muslims need a teacher or a sheikh, to help them attain that purification. That sheikh learned from his sheikh, who learned from his, etc, etc, who learned from a tabi, who learned from a sahabi, who learned from the prophet. Unfortunately, most people would never try to cure a sick physical heart without a doctor, yet refuse to see a spiritual doctor to heal their spiritual diseases which can waste all their good deeds (The prophet said that diseases like arrogance or jelousy can burn up good deeds like a razor cuts hair or a fire burns wood).

The second reason some Salaf have issue with it, is because just like some so called muslim terrorists ruin the image of Islam for the rest of, so too do some self called sufis ruin the name of suffisim for the rest. Some misguided people may claim to be sufi, but not follow the shariah and engage in clear bidas, and then the Salaf think that is suffusim, when realy those misguided people do not represent suffisim, just like a real terrorist (does not represent Islam.

Allah Knows Best.

Inshallah this explanation, helps please feel free to send me more questions or if you would like i cans end you some books on the topics

Salam Alikom
-Hassan

Question One- Crucifixion of Jesus in Islam? Mary, the sister of Aaron?

Question:
"In regards to Prophet Jesus Peace be upon him not being crucified. Why do the Jews also believe the crucified him and pretty much most of the orthodox Christian world? My second question revolves around Mary in I think Sura 19. It calls her the sister of Aaron. Isn't this meant for Miriam Moses's sister? "

Answers:
The quran i very clear on what happened to our Dear Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) Allah says that

"4:157. That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-

4:158. Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-"

What happened is that Allah, made his traitor appear in shape like Jesus (peace be upon him) who was then crucified in his place. Those who disbeilved in Jesus (peace be upon him) then thought that they had gotten rid of him. however, to this day they are full of doubts in that regard, to this day, as many jews and Christians continue to dispute what happened. However, those who believed and were with Jesus at the time no he was not crucified, but rather elevated to paradise, and would return near the end of time. The true Christians at the time (Who we would actually call Muslims) continued to believe this for hundreds of years. The only people who believed otherwise were those who rejected jesus (peace be upon him) namely the Jews and Romans. The true followers of Jesus, who we would call Muslim, continued to to believe that Jesus was a prophet and was not crucified , until the year 330ad, when a roman king Constantine converted to Christianity and held a conference to spell out the Christian doctrine. This conference was in the year 330ad in the city of Nicea. In the conference he sided with a minority of Christians who were powerful recent roman converts who did believe that Jesus was crucified, and they came up with the doctrine of the trinity, incorporating pagan roman beliefs. They called this doctrine the Niecan Creed, and is the basis for modern Christianity. The majority of Christians rejected this creed however, and were persecuted and killed. Arius, a devout follower of Jesus, peace be upon him, led the struggle against the creed of Nicea, Along with the Anti-Nicean fathers. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the powerful romans. From that point Christian belief changed except for a small group who were able to retain the original teachings of Jesus, and they awaited, and quickly embraced the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, when he came.

Now although no where does the modern bible speak of the trinity, you may ask why in some books it speaks of the crucification. The answer is simple. We do not have an uninterrupted chain of narrates for the Bible as we do for the Quran. The earliest original manuscripts we have for the bible are from the 4th century, over 300 years after the time of Jesus peace be Upon him, and after the nicean creed. We do not have words that can be traced directly back to jesus peace be upon him

As for Mary being called "Ya Ukhta Harun" In the Quran (19:28) or what is translated as the "Oh Sister of Aaron," the answer is simple as well. In the Arabic language, it was regular to call people by their honorable relatives. For example, my great grandfather Saleh, was an imam of a well known village in Syria. So it would not be grammatically and culturally incorrect for people to call me "Ya Akha Saleh" Or "Oh brother of Saleh." Although I am not directly his brother, I am in his linage, and it is an honor for people to call me in relation to him. It as an idiom of speech in the Arabic language. This matter was actually brought before the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, at his time, when someone not familiar with the Arabic language asked the very same question, and the prophet gave him the same answer I gave you. He said Aaron is part of Mary's ancestory, and it is an honor that she be referred in relation to him as he was a great man. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, made it very clear that it was not in the literal sense.