Rasheed Gonzales

Pity goes out to those who can’t see through the pretty pictures … .

Abū ‘Eesa Isma’il Gonzales
Someone’s guestbook on AsianAve, May 6, 2001.

Edit: Shortly after posting this quote by my brother, I came across a very nice quote and equally nice reminder related to the message my brother was hinting at by his words. Much thanks to Muhajirah for posting this very nice reminder on her blog.

Browsing through WordPress’s tag surfer, I came across this blog entry by Alif Sikkiin and thought I’d share the article linked within it with you. The article is from the New York Times’s online magazine and concerns Muslim female Hadîth scholars throughout Islam’s history. I found it particularly interesting because just a day earlier (on February 24th, 2007), a friend of mine in Florida, Ibrahim al-Koobee, had sent out an email on his Aqeedatus-Salaf YahooGroup mailing list with a PDF Article from the brothers at SalafiManhaj.com concerning this very same topic: female Hadîth scholars.

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The following quotes are excerpts from Shaikh of Islam Ibn Taimiyyah’s Qâ’idah Jalîlah fit-Tawassul wal-Wasîlah. I had originally translated them for an email replying to some assertions made by an Ash’arî brother trying to use a statement from this book as evidence to support his beliefs regarding the use of mediums in petitioning Allah (i.e., at-tawassul).

Ibn Taimiyyah states on pgs. 45-46:

Swearing by the created things is forbidden according to the general body (jumhūr), it is the opinion of Abî Hanîfah, one of the two statements for the opinion of ash-Shâfi’î and Ahmad, and the concensus of the Companions has been mentioned for that. It is said it is detested with a disdained hatred; and the first is more correct such that ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ūd, ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbâs, and ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said, “Surely that I swear by Allah, dishonestly is more beloved to me than I swear by other than Allah truthfully.” That is because swearing by other than Allah is polytheism and polytheism is greater than dishonesty; and certainly the dispute regarding swearing by the Prophets is known. For from Ahmad are two narrations concerning swearing by the Prophet, may Allah send salutations and peace upon him. One of them, the oath by [means of] him is not contracted, like the statement of the general body: Mâlik, Abî Hanîfah, and ash-Shâfi’î. The second is that the oath by [means of] him is contracted and a group from his companions such as al-Qâdî and his followers chose that; Ibn al-Mundhir agreed with these. Most of these limited the dispute in that to the Prophet, may Allah send salutations and peace upon him, specifically, while Ibn ‘Aqîl extended this ruling to the rest of the Prophets. The obligation of expiation for swearing by a created thing even if it were a Prophet, is a weak statement in the utmost that opposes the foundations and the texts, for swearing by him upon Allah—and asking by him with the intent of taking an oath—is from this type.

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One of my friends found these two articles on the topic. I found them rather interesting (although not too surprising). I thought I’d share them with you guys.

From Scotsman.com:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Magnificently sophisticated geometric patterns in mediaeval Islamic architecture indicate their designers achieved a mathematical breakthrough 500 years earlier than Western scholars, scientists said on Thursday.

By the 15th century, decorative tile patterns on these masterpieces of Islamic architecture reached such complexity that a small number boasted what seem to be “quasicrystalline” designs …

Read on … Mediaeval Muslims Made Stunning Math Breakthrough By Will Dunham.

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Since the weather forecasts are saying that it should be fairly warm today (a scorching high of -2°C, ha!), I decided I’d save some money on gas and parking and take the TTC to work today, rather than drive. It gave me a chance to catch up on my reading, which has been lacking as of late and is one of the only reasons I like taking public transit—other than that, I hate it … . In any case, I was reading chapter Tâ-Hâ (no. 20) and came across what is, in my opinion, one of the harder-hitting, eye-watering passages in the Qur’an. I thought I’d share it with whoever comes to this blog as a reminder, for surely, the reminder benefits the believers.

«And whoever turned away from My reminder, then surely for him is a distressful life and We will gather him as a blind [person] on the Day of Standing. ¤ He will say, “O my Lord, why have you gathered me as a blind [person] while I had used to see?” ¤ He [i.e., Allah] will say, “Similarly, Our signs came to you and you forgot them. And thus today, you will be forgotten.” ¤ And thus, we reward those who transgressed and did not believe in their Lord’s signs. And certainly, the punishment of the Afterlife is more severe and longer lasting.»

Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Qur’an, 20:124-127.

Taken from Ibn Rajab’s Explanation of al-Bukhârî’s Kitâb al-Îmân

al-Bukhârî said,

18 – The chapter of whoever said, “Surely faith is ‘deed’,” due to Allah’s statement, exalted is He, «And that is the Paradise which you inherited because of what you used to do» (43:72). Regarding His, mighty and sublime is He, statement, «Thus by your Lord, We will certainly ask them all about what they used to do» (15:92), a number of the people of knowledge said [that] “[it is] concerning the statement: there is no god [worthy of worship] except Allah.” And He said, «For the likes of this, then let the doers do» (37:61).

Then he brought out the hadîth:

26 – [From] Abî Hurairah: that the Prophet, may Allah send salutations and peace upon him, was asked, “Which deed is most virtuous?” He said, «Faith in Allah and His messenger.» It was said, “Then what?” He said, «Jihâd[1] in Allah’s path.» It was said, “Then what?” He said, «A validated Hajj.[2]»

al-Bukhârî’s aim with this chapter is [to show] that the entirety of faith is ‘deed’; in contradiction to the statement of [those] who said, “Surely ‘deed’ is absolutely not [included] in faith.” For indeed faith’s root is attestation of the heart and what al-Bukhârî affirmed has preceded: that the heart’s attestation is an earning and a deed for it. This attestation is followed by the statement of the tongue. Here, al-Bukhârî’s aim is that it is also called ‘deed’. As for the deeds of the limbs, then there is no doubt in their inclusion in the name of ‘deed’ and there is no need to affirm that because no one differs in it. Thus, all of faith—according to what he affirmed—becomes ‘deed’.

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