Asalamu alaykum,

I’ve known Mustafa ‘Umar for around four years. I witnessed his efforts towards studying and striving. While we were out relaxing, Mustafa would stay home digesting Ibn Hisham’s notes on the Alifiyah. Mustafa recently finished his university studies and has returned to the states. He’s a sheikh, Imam and we hope that he will contribute and benefit the West. He is currently looking for a Job as an Imam, thus if any dynamic community in the states is looking, please contact him at his website. I give him a 100% and strongly encourage a dynamic, young forward looking community to take him before we come back to the states and employ him at our institution.

Suhaib

Video of Imam Mustafa ‘Umar

Why Are You Muslim?

Article by Imam Mustafa ‘Umar

A Treatise on the Islamic Faith

The Question:

Can I give greeting to people of other faiths and traditions? I asked this in light of the following hadith that forbids us to do so to the Jews and order us to block the way in front of them as related by Imam Muslim. There are a number of people in my MSA who like to debate this topic. What is your advice to them?

Summary of the Answer:

1. The prohibition against offering the greetings of peace to non-Muslims and permitting them to pass is conditioned to times of war.
2. Muslims, under normal circumstances, are ordered to treat all people well.
3. One should avoid petty debates and focus on what benefits.

The Answer:

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The most effective way to deal with hate mongers is by intellect and reasoning in order to make them use their minds rather than emotions in order to be able to see things the way they are really are.

My colleague at work was venting. We were sitting in front of a television set which was broadcasting carnage and sectarian violence in Iraq. She said she can not believe these Muslims killing each other while belonging to the same faith and all worshiping the same God.

She expressed resentment of Muslims in general and the terrorism they commit in the name of their faith.

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Asalamu alaykum,

I would like to congratulate Sen. Obama, his campaign and the American people on this year’s election. I was nearly moved to tears by the large showing of people racing to lend their voices for change, the three hour lines and the commitment to values that brought us beyond the simplistic nature of color, faith and race. I was especially moved by the following quote:

“I heard that he won and I instinctively came here,” said Hollis Gentry, 45, who lives about six blocks away. “I came down here to make a prayer… that we’ll be able to change the nation and the world.”

While we are excited about an Obama presidency, we must never forget that our trust, hopes and ambitions rest solely with Allah. The worst thing we can do is to idolize Obama. This would undermine our unique ability to call him to account on issues and examine him with a critical eye and, at the same time, afford him the elastic to error and grow.

While many of us feel he is an excellent choice, we must never forget that until America is able to export the values it exposes to others, declare a war on the causes of poverty, offer universal health care, quality education and address its ethical lapses, we will continue to be seen by many as hypocrites.

We ask Allah to guide Obama to what pleases Allah, bless our country, bring justice to the oppressed and use us for goodness.

Suhaib

Bismillah

For all the college students out there, we know that being broke is normal. But I’m here to tell the rest of you that you are all broke as a joke too. Every. Last. One of you.

You may be thinking: “I just graduated, I make an awesome salary, I just bought this brand new 09 car, and I’m doing very well!” Or, “I live my parents and they take care of me!”

Well my response to you is that you’re still broke. Very very poor.

Confused?

Read the words of your Rabb:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنْتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ ۖ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ

“O mankind! You are all Fuqaraa’ to Allah, but Allah is Rich, Worthy of all praise!” (35:15)

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By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Exposure to some forms of entertainment is a corrupting influence on children, leading teens who watch sexy programs into early pregnancies and children who play violent video games to adopt aggressive behavior, researchers said on Monday.

Researchers at the RAND research organization said their three-year study was the first to link viewing of racy television programing with risky sexual behavior by teens.

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The Question:

Shaykh i’m asking on behalf of a brother asking for a formal fatawa. His family is having a medical emergency and we would appreciate it if you could reply back asap.

His wife is pregnant but the baby has two major abnormalities.

The doctors are saying it would be better to abort the baby but they have given them the option of continuing the pregnancy and operate on the child to rearrange the internal organs and hope for the best, but they are not sure how to do this because there is not enough skin to close the stomach and even if they could, there would be know stomach muscle to hold everything in place.

The medical team is expecting the child to die before the wife can actually give birth. What should they do in this situation. Abort the baby or pray to Allah and hope for the best?

We would really appreciate a response from you. Please keep this family in your prayers.

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On the ‘Credit Crunch’
By Andrew Booso

There has been an exceptional media focus on the recent trials of the global economic system. Indeed, the course of events is of a magnitude that has long been unheard of. From a Western perspective, many of us have found our normal living costs rising while our wages have not risen in line with inflation, many of our homes have lost substantial value, and numerous people have seen the value of their business investments and shares fall dramatically. Such events have made people with no academic background in economics feel threatened by these matters, even if they despairingly fail to comprehend the stark reality and details of the problem. However, the one thing that they will be sure of is that their standard of living is falling and is precarious, and that they are seemingly impotent to shape the future for the better.

A common villain has been identified for the scandal: the greedy bankers. Thus there have been calls for governments to improve regulatory standards as a means of preventing future disasters of a similar nature. Moreover, governments have come under some criticism for having allowed such a disaster to transpire in the first place. Both of these observations are apt, but they belie a certain naivety. In fact, while the mythology of essentially free markets functioning for the common good has been laid bare for its untruth, the mythology behind the essence of the contemporary capitalist system – with its usury and fiat money – has rarely come into discussion. Even when left-wing commentators – such as Milne, Bunting and Younge or non-left wingers like Jeffrey Sachs (21 October) in the Guardian comment pages – have called for an alternative for the future in light of current events, they have failed to touch upon meaningful details – a fact which only speaks of the bankruptcy of the left to bettering the current system.

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The Question:

What is the ruling of the Shari’ah for individuals with infectious diseases such as influenza who frequent mosques to pray and spread the disease like wild fire among those praying in the mosques?

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