This system was no United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nor was it the United States’ Bill of Rights. It was the message of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (s) – a message that came at a time when Europe was clambering out of its dark feudal age and from a place that did not have schools where freedoms and rights were discussed. This was the message of Islam. An Islam that taught tolerance, not tension.

Yet today we find that intolerance and Islam are two I’s that have become increasingly linked. The excerpted verse “slay [the non-believers] wherever thee find them” has become a vanguard of the belief that Islam is an intolerant religion.

It’s true.

Islam has zero-tolerance – zero tolerance for injustice, oppression, and violation of basic human rights. This is because, in Islam, tolerance is a basic principle, a religious moral duty.

But what is tolerance? The word tolerance is thrown around so much so that it seems that its meaning has been cast into the shadows. Conceptually, it means to respect, accept, and appreciate the rich diversity of the world’s cultures, forms of expression, and ways of being human. In no way does this mean lack of principle. It does not mean all religions are the same. In fact, Muslims still believe in the supremacy of Islam. However, we still tolerate our Non-Muslim neighbors, friends, colleagues, and family. We respect their ideas, we learn from them, and we grow from them… all without putting our Islamic values and belief’s at stake.

Islamically, tolerance is the fruit of many seeds. It comes from recognition of the dignity, equality, rights, and freedoms of all human beings, regardless of race, color, language, or background. In fact, from the very beginning, Islam recognized freedom of belief, as clearly demonstrated by the following verse: “There is no compulsion in religion.” (2:256) From this, we see that coercion is not permissible. After all, the purpose of this principle is to uphold human rights and rule of law. Nonetheless, it is the believer’s responsibility to present Allah’s Message in a clear way and invite others to it to the best of his ability. However, as Allah says, “If then they turn away, We have not sent you as a guard over them. Your duty is but to convey [the Message]…” (42:48).

Often times, we limit the discussion of tolerance and intolerance to jihad and terrorism. We know that Islam teaches fighting only against those who fight you. In reality, there is so much more to this principle. There is tolerance between family and community members. There is tolerance in views and opinions. There is tolerance when it comes to Muslims and interfaith relations. Knowing this, we, as Muslims, must practice tolerance. Yes, we can tolerate other’s religions, but we must learn to tolerate others within our communities, within our homes, and within our mosques. Once we are tolerant of one another, we can learn to respect each other. Respect can only result in cooperation. And once we have cooperation without concession of Islamic values, this Ummah can truly be successful. Once we find peace and tolerance within ourselves, we can become part of those that live at peace with others. If the Prophet (S), the best man to walk this earth, could tolerate others despite knowing his esteemed position, why can’t we?

As former President Jimmy Carter once said, “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic.” Look around you, whether you’re in a mall, an amusement park, or just at home. Think about it, a mosaic consists of many tiny pieces, varying in size, shape, color, and position, that come together to create something cohesive, something truly beautiful. Alone, these tiny pieces would be insignificant and incomplete. But together, they can become something truly successful. And just like when making a mosaic you cannot force the pieces together, you cannot add coercion when it comes to religion. This is what tolerance in Islam is all about.

Editor’s Note: This article will also be appearing in a future WhyIslam? publication, Masha’Allah.

However, it seems that as each year passes, it isn’t able to affect us to a point where we try to change ourselves personally to an extent that this change might last past these thirty days. In a lot of our minds, Ramadan is about rituals; ritually staying away from food and drink, ritually attending the Masjid nightly, ritually praying our Taraweeh prayer, ritually reading whatever little we can of the Arabic Qur’an.

There is no problem with following rituals, but the problem lies in the fact that we may have forgotten the purpose behind our rituals. And, without the purpose, then, quite simply, what’s the purpose of doing all this? We hear the Qur’an recited to us in full Ramadan after Ramadan, but we might not take any steps to understanding it. We stay away from food and drink every year, but don’t realize why.

This Ramadan, why don’t we attempt to change that? In fact, why don’t we challenge ourselves to make this the year to remember?

In order for this to be our best Ramadan yet, wait, we need to change that statement first. In order to make this the best Ramadan yet, we have to do a few things.

Follow the ABC’s of making this the best Ramadan:

Attitude

Stand up in front of that mirror, and with clear and loud words, look yourself in the eye and repeat this:

“I am going to do whatever it takes to make this my best Ramadan!” Before you can accomplish anything, you need to have the mindset that you will accomplish everything.

Bold Goals

Don’t shortchange yourself. You’re a Muslim. You pray five times a day when others barely remember the word ‘God’. You stay away from food for this whole month while others can only manage to ‘fast’ a day or two, while drinking water. This Ramadan, make the goals that you know will please Allah.

Do what’s in your capacity to read more of the Qur’an (in English and Arabic), to visit the Masjid (and other Masjids in your community), to stop that habit that you know is wrong or build a new, better habit. But, just to make sure that you’re in check, split up your goals into 4 weeks. A goal with a long deadline usually doesn’t get done.

“I will finish reading the Qur’an, and I will do so by reading 7 juz (para) every week”. Check in every week to make sure you know your progress and can finish it. A key tip in making sure they get done is writing them down, something found in the next part:

Calendar

Make a schedule for yourself. Don’t let that positive attitude and all those bold goals go to waste. Know that every week, you must have made a certain amount of progress on your goal. Perhaps even every day, a certain amount of progress must be made. Use this calendar also to mark down if you plan to attend certain Masajid on certain nights (try to get out of your comfort zone and meet other Muslims in your community), as well as if you were invited for Iftar by family. Keeping these things in mind will allow you to visually see them and accommodate yourself accordingly so you won’t compromise on your goals.

With this month, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) opens the doors for us to better ourselves. He closes the gates of the Hellfire and chains up the devils. Excuses become less, and capacity to change increases. Don’t let this month go by without telling yourself on ‘Eid day: “That was the best Ramadan I’ve ever had.”

You don’t know if you’ll live to see the next. You might be like these brothers who might’ve thought they’d live to see this Ramadan, but were not able to:

Brother Adnaan Rahman (17), Nasir Sheikh (17), and Azeez Ali (49) and the many others who may have lost their lives right before this blessed month. Allah bless us to take the most advantage of this month, Ameen.

Today was our first full day at IlmSummit, and I have to say, this was pretty intense.

My roommate Hassan Rasool (a brother from Wisconsin) and I woke up at around 5:40am and quickly got ready for Fajr. We got to the hotel lobby in time Alhamdulillah, and we then prayed behind Qari Uthmaan Khan. His recitation was amazing Masha’Allah, and I felt myself relaxing as I stood there, letting the powerful words sweep by and sink through. After the prayer, we began our first official class, a morning Tajweed session with Shaykh Uthman, and listened raptly as he went over several Tajweed and Makhaarij rules. Before this, I had thought that Tajweed could perhaps be taught over just a few classes, but as we sat down and listened to him, I quickly realized that this was actually a very deep and in-depth Islamic science.

Shaykh Uthman mentioned this himself and said that there is actually a whole field of Tajweed that is purely theoretical and said that he would be teaching that type of class this year and will not even get into rules or applications. All I can say is that I left the class feeling very awed. This Qari studied all of the 10 different styles of Qira’ah and continued to study Tajweed even while his classmates and peers went into studying other branches of Islamic knowledge like Fiqh, Aqeedah, etc. These types of people were one-in-a-million and I felt really honored to be able to study under him.

After the Tajweed class, we all headed over to another room to have our breakfast. One of the special features of IlmSummit that the students always boast about (in addition to the ‘Ilm of course) is the amazing food at the hotel and I now realized that they were not exaggerating; we were literally given a scrumptious buffet with everything from scrambled eggs to soft croissants and rolls. After getting my food, I looked around and noticed that there were several circles of people scattered about the dining hall, all sitting on the ground together. I just randomly picked one of them, found out that the brothers in this circle were predominantly from SoCal (Southern California), and was pleasantly surprised to hear that many of them knew my Masjid, Dar-us-Salaam, and that the University of Madinah students in this circle knew my friends who were also studying there.

We next headed to our Tarbiyah class that was being taught by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi. This class was about improving one’s Akhlaaq and so for this purpose, Shaykh Yasir picked the book Abwab az-Zuhd, which is included in the famous Al-Jami’ of At-Tirmidhi. Today was the first day, so Sh. Yasir spent the whole class discussing the biography of Imam At-Tirmidhi. He delved into the different books that he wrote, his numerous teachers, terms and rulings that he popularized, etc. SubhanAllāh, I found out that many of the ‘Ulama thought of Jami’ At-Tirmidhi to be actually better than Sahih Al-Bukhari in terms of benefit because while Sahih Al-Bukhari is meant for scholars and intellectuals (Sh. Yasir said that the Sahih is so great and phenomenal that one can only truly understand it if they study the Islamic sciences first), Jami’ At-Tirmidhi was perfect for the laymen and masses because of its simple and concise manner. I also found out that At-Tirmidhi’s main teacher was Imam Al-Bukhari and that they shared a very special relationship, even to the extent that Imam Al-Bukhari told him, “I have benefited from you more than you have benefited from me”. This is very amazing considering the stature of Imam Al-Bukhari, and the whole close relationship kept on reminding me about the Encounter With Muslim Superheroes analogy.

Imam At-Tirmidhi had also popularized the term of Hasan and Hasan Sahih, and wrote several monumental works in his time, including the Al-Jami’, Al-Ilatul-Kabeer, and Kitaab Ash-Shamaa’il.

• His Al-Jami’ is the famous book in which he compiled roughly 3,950 Ahadith over the course of twenty years. This Jami’ is included in the Sahih Sittah (the six authentic books of Hadith) and is really what led to him and his other works becoming famous.
• His Al-Ilatul–Kabeer was the largest and most comprehensive book ever on ‘Illa. ‘Illa is basically the science of finding defects on Ahadith based on several types of evidence and is actually the most complicated sub-branch of Hadith. Even with this amount of difficulty, Imam At-Tirmidhi (rahimuhullah) was still able to master it and become the premier authority on this matter.
• His Kitaab Ash-Shamaa’il was a large book that had to mainly do with the physical characteristics of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) as well as his character towards others.

After learning all of this and much more, my respect for At-Tirmidhi exponentially grew. Before this, all I could really remember about Imam At-Tirmidhi was that he was a great scholar and that just like Imam Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim (but to a lesser degree in my former opinion), he had also compiled Ahadith in his lifetime. I now understand that he contributed a lot to Islamic academia and that his Jami’ is actually excellent for the average Muslim.

Right after our morning Tarbiyah class, we began our Heresiology class, which was also being taught by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi. Heresiology is the study of different heretic groups and their history, development of their theology and practices, famous people, and other related material. When I was first going to take this class, I thought that it would merely teach us the errors of certain groups and how we can counteract against it, but now I realize that this class was taking a very different, and perhaps more mature, approach to the subject; all of this was going to be taught to us in a much more academic discussion, one that we sadly do not have in our hometowns where it is so direly needed, but I’m happy that we were able to study this material in depth at IlmSummit. We’re actually not allowed to freely share the notes for this specific class since it contains a lot of sensitive information and can easily be taken out of context, but all I can say is that the class was very mind-opening. I wouldn’t say that I now find these groups to be valid or authentic, but I now see that they too had some type of thought process that went into their methodology and creed.

This was perhaps the most intensive class we’ve had so far, especially considering the brevity and depth of the class, so it came as rather of a relief when it was time for lunch. We headed over to our dining hall and were served steak, vegetables, and salad. This time around, I picked a very specific circle to go sit at, and that was the circle of Sh. Yasir. Sh. Yasir had decided to come and join us for lunch, so everybody gathered around him and engaged in a Q&A discussion that lasted for the rest of the whole lunch session. Imagine if every lunch session was like this! SubhanAllah, it was truly a blessing to sit alongside the Mashaayikh, eat with them, and to learn from their words and actions…

Sh. Yasir with Haytham (to the Shaykh's right) and the SoCal brothers

After having lunch with Shaykh Yasir, we headed over to our first class with Shaykh Waleed Basyouni. He was going to teach us about Bid’ah (innovation), and I personally found this very exciting. I was tired of hearing the word “Bid’ah” being flung around carelessly, and sometimes even jokingly, so I was really eager to finally learn about Bid’ah in a proper academic fashion. Sh. Waleed began by discussing the concept of Bid’ah according to Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah. This turned out to be very exhaustive and we spent the whole class going through only three of the five introductory concepts of Bid’ah. We found out that that classifying something as Bid’ah is not always very easy, especially when there is a Bid’ah that contains some sort of evidence as well as other elements that clearly have no type of evidence. This is known as al-Bid’ah al-Idhafiya, and was one of the many things that we had to discuss in our class. One of the enjoyable aspects of this class is that Sh. Waleed gives varying opinions on an issue and then lets the class choose and discuss the correct opinion based on everything that was taught in the class so far. The class enjoyed it, and it really helped us to solidify the information that we were learning since we were being asked to immediately put what we learned into practical applications.

A picture taken during the break. In the picture: the Ameer of Qabeelat Majd, Toronto

We had dinner afterwards, and then we began our Wild Card Session. A Wild Card session is basically the last session of the day in which the Shaykh for that respective day comes up and talks about something special and unique. Today’s Wild Card session featured Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, and it was on a topic that many people were craving to hear about; his change from the “Madinah years” to the “Yale years”. The whole premise of the discussion was that he got the best of both worlds and that he really matured as his experiences went further. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi had scored at the highest of his class, and he was slated to go into the PhD program at the University of Madinah, a program that no American student has graduated from as of yet. However, right before beginning, 9/11 had struck and he was at a loss of what to do with the rest of his life. As the events unfurled, he felt an increasing and compelling urge to return back to America, the land of his people.

He immediately applied for Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League universities, and eventually got accepted into the PhD program at Yale. This is when Sh. Yasir Qadhi explained the primary difference of the two universities to us; the University of Madinah extensively grounded him in the authentic Islamic narrations and traditions, but it never trained him on how to think critically or on how to properly conduct academic research. All of this was rather taught to him at Yale, from where he has just received his PhD. The reason that I found this story very profound (even to the extent of making it today’s title) is because this transition of coming over from Madinah to Yale really demonstrated two things. Firstly, it showed us the real care and concern for us as this scholar, as well as many others, left the Muslim lands and came back to America for the primary purpose of spreading on the knowledge to us. It also represented a shift in thought and showed to us that it may now just be possible to seek Islamic scholarship in the West under the tutelage of such scholars that can make the material both timely and relevant.

Another special event occurred during this wildcard session; an IlmSummit student was going to recite her last memorization assignment to Shaykh Uthman today. Sr. Julie had converted to Islam only about four or five years ago, but ever since then, she was hard at work, Masha’Allāh. She got into contact with Sh. Uthman at the last IlmSummit and in the course of only one year, she had completed the memorization of the whole Qur’an and had done this while taking full-load courses at law school at the same time. She recited the last Ayah of Surah Al-Fath to her teacher in front of us and SubhanAllah, it was really an inspiring moment and got all of us to ask ourselves, “If she can do this much, while being a recent convert and while at being at law school, then what about us?” It was truly an encouraging moment for us, and Sh. Yasir even stated that she was an inspiration for him.

All in all, it was a very hectic and amazing day. We got word that Shaykh Salah As-Sawy from AMJA will be coming in to teach us a special class on Maqaasid tomorrow, so we’re all excited and looking forward to that. Until next time!

Preface – Alhamdulillah, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) has blessed me with the opportunity to attend this year’s AlMaghrib IlmSummit. For those of you who don’t know, IlmSummit is a special summer program that AlMaghrib Institute begun in 2008. It is a 9-day event comprised of back-to-back seminars taught by AlMaghrib powerhouse instructors and special guest speakers that delve into topics such as Tajweed, Islamic History, Economics, Heresiology, and much more. The classes begins right after Fajr (which is currently at 6am in Houston) and runs until 10pm, after which the students organize and review their notes before slipping in a few hours of sleep.

I’ve been watching IlmSummit videos ever since last year, and just about everything seemed downright amazing about the event; I saw that the Shuyookh actually live on the same premise as the students, full books were taught cover-to-cover in an intensive manner over just a few days, various wildcard sessions were planned throughout the days, speakers regularly came in and out, and the students were always busy gathering and digesting their daily plethora of information. All in all, it was a student’s dream come true.

I received regular emails from AlMaghrib Institute encouraging us students to apply for IlmSummit, but I always felt that it was a bit pricey and that I wouldn’t be able to meet the high standards of getting in (they look at your AlMaghrib exam grades, your community activism, your Hifdh, etc.). However, while at college one day, I received yet another email from the IlmSummit team. I was about to go ahead and delete the email, but then I decided to at least just give it a shot. I quickly filled out the form, pressed ‘submit’, and then went off to class without another moment’s thought.

To my amazement, I was accepted into the IlmSummit program Alhamdulillah. After talking to my parents, I called the AlMaghrib office, confirmed my trip, and paid for the event. As the phone call came to an end, I realized that this was it…I was really heading to IlmSummit.

Day 1

Friday - On Friday, the first day of IlmSummit, I headed to the airport right after Fajr. I was a bit apprehensive at first, while passing through security, but Alhamdulillah, everything went really smoothly for me (I later on found out that others had to unfortunately wait 2+ hours at security). While on the plane, I first opened Shaykh Yasir Qadhi’s An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’aan and began to read the book. SubhanAllah, with every passing page, my excitement only increased.

He first discussed how he began writing this book even before entering the University of Madinah and completing it while in his undergraduate years (on the 27th of Ramadan no less!). He then went on to note several role models in his life with a special emphasis on Shaykh Jamaal Zarabozo. After all of this, he then began to discuss the topic of Uloom-ul-Qur’an. All of this was fascinating for me because I was roughly around the same age as him when he began researching the books of Uloom-ul-Qur’an, Jamaal Zarabozo was going to be one of the instructors at IlmSummit, and the whole topic of Uloom-ul-Qur’an was presented in such an amazing academic manner that it only kept on increasing my anticipation for IlmSummit.

After a brief layover in Charlotte, North Carolina, our plane reached Houston and I found myself soon outside of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in the glaring heat around 11am, waiting for the shuttle to take me to the hotel. When the shuttle came round, there were three other Muslims that joined me; two brothers from Qabeelat Quwwa at Rochester, New York, and Sr. Ify, the Ameerah of my Qabeelah in the DC Metro Area, Qabeelat Nurayn. I began talking to the Rochester brothers, Asim and Imran, about their newly-founded Qabeelah amidst other things, and we quickly became friends over the course of that short trip. Turns out, one of them was developing his own Islamic studies major and the other one was receiving a graduate degree in Neuroscience. I was humbled to be around such students of knowledge, Masha’Allah.

The shuttle arrived at the hotel shortly after, and my companions and I took our luggage and entered the Crown Plaza Hotel. Masha’Allah, no joke, the hotel was very nice and there was this feeling of welcome and openness as we entered. Haytham Soliman, the program manager of the whole event, was there to greet us and immediately began treating us as if he knew us for years as he began piling on joke after joke with each statement. After receiving that warm welcome, I checked into the hotel and then went up to my room and dropped off all of my luggage. Masha’Allah, the room was very nice and as I sat down on one of the futons, I felt the fatigue of the day’s travels slowly wash over me. In a matter of seconds, I was fast asleep, with the bed literally a few inches away. I was way too tired to care.

Settiling in at the IlmSummit hotel

I woke up a couple of hours later, and then made my way down to the hotel lobby. The program was going to begin in an hour or so, so I decided to go ahead and meet as many brothers as possible before that. In the span of those few minutes, I met Qari Uthman Khan, Shiraz (IlmSummit blog here), Ahmed and the other Haqq brothers from SoCal, Hamid Syed and the other Nurayn brothers from Washington DC, Nihal Khan and the other Durbah brothers from New Jersey, as well as Ammar Al-Shukry and the other Tayybah brothers from New York. It was truly beautiful seeing all of these students of knowledge coming in from all around the United States, and even more beautiful when we saw the Shuyookh checking into the hotel; these same Shuyookh have their own homes in Houston, but yet they are sacrificing all of those comforts so that they can be here with us for the full week, Alhamdulillah.

Shaykh Uthman with a student from Houston and another from New York

The program began around 7:30pm with a beautiful recitation by Qari Uthman Khan. Right after that, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, the Ameer of IlmSummit, stood up and gave an introductory speech. Masha’Allah, this speech was very inspiring and it finally really made me realize that I was at IlmSummit and that we were going to be in intensive classes with all of the other Mashaayikh for the next seven days. He talked about going on a Rihlah, a travel, for knowledge and its importance and benefits for the students of knowledge. He said that we are continuing the legacy of the great pious predecessors before us as they used to also travel very far for sometimes just one Hadith. The speech felt especially special to me because he made several references to the Ash’ari theology, the people of Kalaam, and related matters, and SubhanAllah, I was just reading about the same content from the same author, only this time he was right in front of me! Many of the proofs that he was including in the speech were actually new material, so it was really as if this speech was an addendum for the book that he had written several years ago. I used to always wonder how would it be if Shaykh Yasir was to write another version of his highly acclaimed book, and here it was SubhanAllah.

Shaykh Waleed Basyouni also gave a nice speech, welcoming us to IlmSummit and reflecting on a lot of what Shaykh Yasir told us. He was very enthusiastic about his theology classes and repeatedly brought them up so many times that the whole class was feeling the contagious spirit and getting in the mood of wanting those classes as soon as possible. After the main Shuyookh gave their introductory remarks, Haytham came up, welcomed us, and then gave each of us a full, grandiose IlmSummit binder with several books and memorabilia to make sure we had everything needed to make our learning successful.

We went back to our rooms exhilarated and excited. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!

Suddenly, I felt my bed vibrate. My senses which had previously been dulled by sleepiness became acute. At first, I thought I imagined it… after all, I was asleep right? But when the vibrations continued, I realized it was an earthquake.

In a moment of dread, I thought, “Fajr!” I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, my heart throbbing with fear and guilt. I stared at my reflection, wondering whether or not I would have woken up for Fajr had the earthquake not happened. My heart filled with a feeling of dread. I don’t know how long I left the water running.

I finished Salah. Normally, I’d be in a rush to scurry back into bed. But today, I couldn’t.

A Lasting Impression

Even though the earthquake lasted for only a couple of seconds, it left a lasting impression. I was reminded of the all-encompassing power of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Any moment now, calamity can strike. It could happen years from now or perhaps as soon as you finish reading this sentence. Everything is in Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala)’s hands for as a He says, in Surah Qamar, verse 50, “And Our Command is but a single Word, like the twinkling of an eye.”

The earthquake I’m referring to had a magnitude of only 3.6 on the Richter scale so there was no damage, Alhamdullillah. In fact, no injuries were reported in the areas hit. I can only help but think about the descriptions of earthquakes in the Quran… earthquakes which will lead to the Last Day. In Surah 99, Ayah 1-3, Allah says, “When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, And the earth throws up her burdens (from within), And man cries (distressed): ‘What is the matter with her?” SubhanaAllah.

Knowing this, I’m reminded that we should live like we’re dying. What if this earthquake had been the last moment of my life – a moment where I was promising myself again and again to wake up after “just 5 more minutes”?  And even if it wasn’t, was I the kind of believer that turned to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) only when I needed Him to lessen my fears? Or, was I the kind of believer that turned to Allah in times of both fear and calm, stress and comfort, sadness and happiness?

These occurrences can really put things into perspective. They are reminders that we should take advantage of every opportunity, every chance, and every second. We’ve got 86400 in every day. What have you done with yours?

I realize that this earthquake didn’t just wake me up for Fajr. It woke me up for so much more. And even though the news didn’t report any aftershocks of this earthquake… I can.

“When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, And the earth throws up her burdens (from within), And man cries (distressed): ‘What is the matter with her?” – Surah Az-Zalzalah (The Earthquake), Ayah 1-3

While over a friend’s house, we began to watch The Incredible Hulk. The movie itself wasn’t too impressive, but it was rather interesting to see other superheroes like Iron Man subtly weave their way into this movie. I mentioned this to my friends on our way to the Masjid for the Maghrib Salah, and they explained to me that these individual Marvel movies are all adding up to an Avengers movie that is slated to be released in 2013. The Avengers are a team of superheroes that include the likes of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and The Hulk, and so basically, after each superhero is introduced separately in their own movie, they will then come together as the Avengers and begin a new set of adventures.

I’ve perhaps only picked up one or two Marvel comics my entire life, so all of this was relatively new to me. In my opinion, there should really only be one superhero and villain per movie. That superhero should have his own hometown, his own personal story, his own specific mission, and his own archenemy that he needs to deal with. So for there to be multiple out-of-this-world superheroes sharing the same big screen and engaging in a global war with several villains, this was pretty cool.

The more I mused about it, the more parallels I started to see with this concept and our Islamic history.

Enter Musa (alayhis salaam), one of the five greatest Prophets ever. He has just entered the town of Madyan and feels tired, parched, and thirsty after running away from persecution for eight days. Even though he is in such a state, he immediately sets off to assist two young women that he saw were in need of help. These two young women return early to their household, the household of another Prophet of Allāh.

Enter Shu’ayb (alayhis salaam). He is a Prophet of Allāh and a descendant of Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salaam). Upon seeing his daughters come home earlier than usual, he asks them what happened and then listens as his daughters relate to him the story of the man who had just helped them at the well. The daughter is then asked by one Prophet of Allāh, one superhero, to summon another Prophet of Allāh, another superhero. These two Prophets had never met before this encounter and their stories are mostly narrated separately and independently of each other in the Qur’an. However, through the Plan of Allāh (subhanahu wa ta’ala), Musa (alayhis salaam) now found himself summoned by another Prophet of Allāh.

By this time, Shu’ayb (alayhis salaam) was very old and needed someone trustworthy to continue his work. After receiving a recommendation from his daughter to hire Musa (alayhis salaam) and after meeting him, he realized that this was the perfect man for the job. Therefore, he married his daughter to Musa (alayhis salaam) on the condition that Musa (alayhis salaam) works for him for eight to ten years. It doesn’t stop there; in the Tafseer of Jalalayn for the Ayah 28:28, it mentions: “Shu‘ayb bid his daughter to give Moses a staff with which to beat off predatory beasts from his sheep — the staffs of the Prophets were in his keeping. It was Adam’s staff, made from the myrtle of Paradise, that fell into her hands and so Moses took it, with Shu‘ayb’s knowledge.”

And you thought superhero movies were interesting? This stuff is real, SubhanAllah.

The encounter between Musa’ (alayhis salaam) and Shu’ayb (alayhis salaam) is just one of many stories of Muslim superheroes coming together, and in many cases, working together; other stories include Yahya (alayhis salaam) and his cousin Isa’ (alayhis salaam), Hamza Ibn Abdul-Muttalib (radhiAllahu anhu) and his comrade Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (radhiAllahu anhu), Imam Malik (rahimuhullah) and his student Imam Ash-Shafi’ (rahimuhullah), as well as countless other real Muslim superhero narratives that best any of the artificial storylines that we have recently become so captivated with. What ends up happening however, is that we typically study their biographies separately and this leads us to forget that many of these Muslim superheroes actually lived in the same era as each other and acted as mentors, friends, and colleagues for one another. We should reexamine the stories of the past, and try to understand how they are all connected in their own special way.

In this day and age, I’m sure we’ve all encountered our own Muslim superheroes. However, did they merely leave us momentarily amazed or excited, or did they inspire us to become better and greater Muslims? Our pious predecessors built upon the shoulders of the great giants before them in their cause to spread the the message of Allāh (subhanahu wa ta’ala) – is it not for us to continue and further this noble legacy and tradition with our fellow Muslims?

Muslim Superheroes Assemble! :)

Two years ago, I witnessed this question being posed to Shaykh Yasir Qadhi in an AlMaghrib seminar. Fortunately, the answer was in the negative and that one does not get sinned based on their thoughts except when in Makkah, Alhamdulillah.

I had left it at that for the time being, but when I later listened to a lecture entitled, Allah Is Al-Hayyiy, I was amazed to hear the following:

The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) once came to the Sahabah and told them, “Have the Hayaa’ (modest in one’s relationship to Allah) from Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) in the proper manner that you’re supposed to have Hayaa’.”

The Sahabah said to Rasulullah, “Oh Messenger of Allah, we are shy in front of Allah, and Alhamdulillah that He gave us that quality to be shy in front of Him.”

Rasulullah (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) tells them, “That’s not what I mean and that is not what is meant having the true Hayaa’ from Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). The right way is…” and then Rasulullah mentions four things.

The first of these is “To be mindful of what is in your head” (the others are to have Hayaa’ in the stomach and the rest of the body, to remember death, and what comes after it).

SubhanAllah, this just took everything up a notch. Yes, it may be that we will not get sins based on our thoughts, but at the same time, we will never possess the proper and complete Hayaa’ unless and until our minds are only filled with thoughts that are pleasing to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). When thinking about this in the American context, it’s especially scary because we have been taught our whole lives to proclaim, “Freedom for all! Freedom of Speech! Freedom of Thought!…” and it goes on and on. If one dares to  suggest anything else – that perhaps some censorship may be necessary (even if it may be Jackie Chan), then that person will be charged with being un-American (oh, the horror!) and it will be taken as a supreme offense by all “freedom fighters” (say, doesn’t that mean fighting freedom?).

But perhaps, just perhaps, do we need to take a step back and purify our mind. Filter our mind. Cleanse our mind. Just maybe.

There’s a famous quote that says,

“Watch you thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

It all begins with the thoughts that preoccupy your mind, inevitably taking possession of your character and identity. These thoughts can be developed either from internal introspection or due to external influences. The latter could actually have a greater impact on one’s thoughts because one spends the majority of his/her day interacting with other people while at school, work, or even online. Knowing this, it’s important that we make sure to interact with the right crowd because they will inevitably dictate your thought process, words, and actions; if you’re around cursing fools a lot, you will find that your first thought and reaction toward anything will be a curse. Fortunately, the opposite is true as well; if you find yourself around very focused individuals that hope to make an impact in the world and earn Jannah in the next, then you will find that your first reaction towards anything is to see it from an eye of opportunity.

To all those freedom fighters out there, here’s my challenge to you: let’s see if you possess the freedom to limit the freedom of your thoughts. Let’s see if you have the freedom to only hang around the right crowd.

The Green Field Effect

Ever had weird thoughts swirling in your head? Wait, scratch that. Did you ever not have weird thoughts swirling in your head? ;)

Whenever I do, I instantly try enacting something that I call the Green Field Effect. No matter where it be, whether I am by myself or in the middle of a crowd, I immediately close my eyes for a second and try imagining a scene that’s looks very open, vast, and seemingly pure. For me, it turns out to be a green field, similar to the post image above. SubhanAllah, it instantly reminds me of the purity that we’re supposed to possess as Muslims and brings Jannah back into focus. Try the same when you need to, and see what comes to your mind when you think of purity. Check then to see if it has a positive effect on you. See if it gets you focused once more.

For once that focus is regained, we gain the true freedom, the freedom of a slave of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala).

With all that’s going around us, perhaps, just perhaps, do we need to take a step back and purify our mind. Filter our mind. Cleanse our mind. Just maybe.

I pray that Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) helps us to gain the ideal Hayaa’. Ameen.

(Verse one)

I can’t escape, its everywhere I go
In the news in the paper, in all that I know

From state to state, shore to shore
Plagued to the heart, down to the core

Undivided and conquered we’re all torn apart
This is coming from inside, straight from my heart

This is all I’m thinking, day and night
We seem to think we’re always right

When I go to the Masjid, I don’t know who’s leading
Who’s sitting by my side, I don’t know who’s praying

Do I give salaam, do I bother to care
I looked at him, all I got was a stare

(Chorus)

At the end of the day there’s one way to go
There’s one way to see, one way to show

As bright as the sun, vast as the sea
To be one unit, one family

Flow of a river, one current
The walk of a march, one movement

Oh brother or sister, I see you, you see me
Together in one cause, one final destiny

Together we rise, together we fall
Hands together forever standing tall

(Verse Two)

I once had a dream it seemed so real
Changed the way I thought, the way I feel

I saw a brother, I never met before
We arrived at the Masjid, he opened the door

He gave me salaam and hugged me like a brother
It made me tear, like none other

What was wrong he asked of me
His kindness made me, so happy

His words stayed with me for so long
Running in my head, on and on

We’re all equal to Allah
Five times a day, we pray Salah

From He we came, to Him we shall return
To unify should be our only concern

A single stick will break so easily
But a bundle sticks, will never be

(Chorus)

At the end of the day there’s one way to go
There’s one way to see, one way to show

As bright as the sun, vast as the sea
To be one unit, one family

Flow of a river, one current
The walk of a march, one movement

Oh brother or sister, I see you, you see me
Together in one cause, one final destiny

Together we rise, together we fall
Hands together forever standing tall

(Verse Three)

What was in my dream, I wish was true
A world where no differences, between me and you

Foot to foot, in a straight line we pray
Forgive our egos that get in the way

Piety and humbleness we need to learn
And let our arrogance, just let it burn

Take a look around, shake a hand
Spread the salaam, to every man

As small as a smile, it can be charity
The best are small deeds, made consistently

I plead with you all, forgive me
Let’s try to live, to live in unity

I found that quite bizarre, because this was a law school that I got myself enrolled into, not a school of theology or philosophy. He especially asked me these questions, but that part didn’t really come as a surprise since I was the only Hijabi there. I didn’t mind at all and when he asked, “What would you do if someone tells you that God doesn’t exist?”,  I quickly replied, “I wouldn’t do anything, I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion, sir.”

First year came with all these struggles. I remember my Public Law Professor talking about the Taliban and then all of a sudden, he asked me, “Are you a Talibani?” (once again, just because I was the only hijabi in the class) and I just told him, “Sir I’m not one, but you sure do look like one”. He was shocked at my reply, at which he said, “You are probably saying that because of my beard – Well, the beard is a sign of protest for a free judiciary”. However, the next day, he had no beard.

Subhan’Allah, all of these things are just tiny struggles of everyday life. It’s just that this religion isn’t a sport or a hobby; it’s a full time commitment. It’s our submission to our Lord. It’s leaving what we desire for what He desires. It’s a lifelong test and it demands sacrifices, compromises, devotion and commitment.

We have to ask ourselves if we are truly committed. Our friends or the society that we live in may not think the way we do – they may not endorse our religious beliefs even if they are Muslims, they may not even wear a hijab or keep a Sunnah style beard, they may have pre-marital affairs, they may even smoke or take drugs, they may drink, go to clubs, take interest, etc. But all of that shouldn’t depress us, demotivate or make us feel that what we are doing is wrong.

Al-Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal reported from ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud that the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said:

“Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began. So, glad tidings for the strangers.” He was asked: “Messenger of Allah, who are the strangers?” He replied: “Those who are outcasts from their tribes.” And this was narrated by Abu Bakr al-Ajuri with the wording: “Those who are righteous when the people are corrupt.” And others narrated this, and he also has the wording: “Those who flee for the sake of their religion from trials and tribulations.”

The majority of people walking on the road to perdition shouldn’t make us feel that we are the ones who are wrong in our beliefs, with our struggles. There is an Arab Proverb that states, “Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it”. Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says,”

And the worldly life is nothing but amusement and diversion; but the home of the Hereafter is best for those who fear Allah. Will you not then understand? — [Surat al-’An`am, 6:32]

Malcolm X once said: “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything”. If our religious beliefs teach us to tolerate, to love for others what we love for ourselves, to work towards peace and harmony, to uphold the ties of kinship, and to forgive, then our religious beliefs are the best ones to adopt. We should never be ashamed of committing to our religion, or practicing it in the true sense.

To counter all of these questions and struggles that we face on a daily basis, it is imperative that we:

• Strive towards knowing our Rabb, our Creator, and our Sustainer.
• Seek knowledge so that we are better informed and educated in our Da’wah and discussions.
• Seek Allah’s (subhanahu wa ta’ala) help with Salah and Sabr, as He Himself instructs us to in Surah Baqarah, Ayah 153: “O you who believe! seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely Allah is with the patient.”
• Look for the right kind of people whom we can hang out with.
• Remember Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) day and night so that we can protect ourselves from the evil of the world we live in.

We have to realize that if our decision is in consonance with the Quran and Sunnah, then it is the best one. We have to create a new environment around us of peace, love and tolerance. We have to become the Ummah of Rasulullah (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam), and I pray that we become successful in doing so. Ameen.

A characteristic to instill,
A duty to fulfill,
Doing the right thing due to Allah’s will

Noticed by my peculiarity,
as I live in a foreign country,
But it’s a positive from of disparity as long as I posses it with sincerity

Modeled by my credence,
powered by my guidance
Led by my resilience against those who wish to find me in its absence

It’s represented in the way I dress,
and the tranquility that I feel in its presence
is a feeling that words cannot express

They view it as oppression,
or a new invention
Its benefits they don’t take into consideration

Only through a course of action can it serve its true function
To acquire it I made an intention,
so leaving it is not an option

It’s a form of Islamic convention,
It leads me in the right direction
They would realize its importance if they would just pay attention

A form of guidance and light for those who seek what is right
Found in the book they recite,
and within them does it incite the strength to fight

Strong faith it does guarantee
in a halal way that sets you free
I wish that you could see the comfort that it gives me

Indecency it does abolish,
Turning your heart into a diamond that doesn’t need polish

Reflected in my behavior with others
Treating them with kindness because we are all brothers

To lower my gaze I was taught-it would protect me from the fire so hot
They say it’s a form of self-suppression, it’s not
It’s my way to heaven, so desperately sought

So I declare with temerity that it leads to prosperity
The result is worth more than gold,
It’s our desires we must control so let us help each other as a whole

Because repetitiously I was told,
these are my values to uphold
It’s the key to my final goal-modesty in my soul