Extremists behind anti-war protest driven off the streets by moderate Muslims

May Allah reward and bless brother Abdulhaq for this link; much thanks. Recently, the brothers in Luton took action against a protest staged by Omar Bakri’s crew driving them off the streets. You can read the story below or click on the link above.

Quote … Unquote … no. 13

Here’s another quote from the same brother who sent me the previous one. This one’s quite nice and gives us all (including myself, especially in recent days) something to seriously ponder on.

Allah, glorified and exalted is He, created this human race[1] for Himself and laid special claim to it. He created everything for it and on account of it,[2] just as in the divine narration, “Son of Adam, I created you for Myself and I created everything for you. So by My right upon you, do not distract yourself with what I created for you from what I created you for.”[3] In another narration, [He said], “Son of Adam, I created you for Myself, so do not play.[4] I guaranteed your provision, so do not toil. Son of Adam, seek Me, you will find Me. If you find Me, you will have found everything while if I eluded you, everything will have eluded you—and I am more beloved[5] to you than everything.”[6] He, glorified and exalted is He, made the prayer a connective cause to His closeness, dialogue [with Him], His love, and intimacy with Him.

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
Kitâb Asrâr as-Salâh wal-Farq wal-Muwâzanah bain Dhawq as-Salâh was-Samâ’, pgs. 68-69.

Quote … Unquote … no. 12

I got this quote from an email one brother sent me, may Allah reward and bless him, and since I haven’t posted anything in quite a while, I thought I’d share it with you folks (sorry for the long period of inactivity on my part; I’ve been preoccupied with worldly matters).

al-Khallâl said,

Muhammad bin Ahmad at-Tarsūsî informed me saying, “I heard Muhammad bin Yazîd al-Mustamilî saying a man asked Ahmad bin Hanbal, ‘Do I write down the books of opinion?’ He (i.e., Ahmad) said, ‘Do not do [it]. Upon you are the narrations and the Hadîth.” So the questioner said to him, ‘Surely ‘Abdallah bin al-Mubârak has written them.’ So Ahmad said to him, ‘Ibn al-Mubârak was not revealed from the heaven! Certainly, we were ordered to take knowledge from above.’”

Tabaqât al-Hanâbilah, vol. 2, pg. 392.

Study: Men Objectify Scantily Clad Women

Author: Amel S. Abdullah
Source: IslamOnline.net.

Anecdotally, Muslim women often speak of feeling “protected,” “safe,” and “respected” when they wear the hijab (religiously mandated modest dress that covers the shape of the body and includes the headscarf or veil). Now there may also be evidence to show that their feelings are rooted in scientific fact.

When psychologist Susan Fiske and a team of researchers at Princeton University performed MRI brain scans on heterosexual men who viewed a series of images showing both scantily clad and fully clothed men and women, they found that the men had an unmistakable response to women wearing less clothing.

The less they wore, the more likely it was for the premotor cortex and the posterior middle temporal gyrus to light up. These are the areas of the brain associated with tool use, hand manipulation, and the urge to take action. (Cikara, Dell’Amore)