When my teacher refused to say that CIA was behind the Taliban

A few days ago, during my Social Movement class, as usual our teacher went through her lecture. However, this time there was a part in her lecture that struck my attention so badly.

RADICAL ISLAMIST – the title that caught my eyes.

“So here we go. Another extreme “Islam” thing that you’re going present to these American kids. Great! And I’m going to sit here quietly with my hijab on and pretend to be cool”, I said to myself.

And here we go. We went through the lecture smoothly, without any questions.

She explained to the class who are Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS and so on. She also commented on what Iran is doing and how should we perceive the royal family of Saudi and she laughed about it.

Yes. I was still sitting there quietly and pretend to be cool.

“Save the best for the last dude and pretend to be cool. Don’t ask question right now”, I told myself again.

To be honest, there are two types of lectures that I went through in this American university. The first one is a lecture that gives you the whole story of certain issues. The teacher will flipped both sides of the coin and that will be the lecture that gives you that “Aha” moment. The other one is the one that will explained all the fallacies about this world even though everyone in that classroom knows the reality!

So, after one hour explaining about radical Islamist and laughed about it, she asked whether anyone has any question.

So, I grabbed my “invisible microphone” and said my question out loud.

“Hmm. I do understand the part that you said that radical Islamist groups came from seminary education. However, I tend to see it in different angle. Well, you can’t deny the third party in this story.” I told her.

She smiled at me as she knew what was in my mind at that time.

“Alright. Tell the class about it. Let them hear you, Nur”, she said.

All the eyes were on me and here we go.

“Well, you can see the pattern of the radical groups. This groups emerge in countries that have problems in their countries. These are the countries that have weak political structure and we use the term “fail state” for that. When a country faces this state, any external intervention are easy to happen and that is the point which we can see the superpowers of the world play their role. We cannot deny that point unfortunately,” I explained to the class and all the eyes were staring at me.

“Yeah, you are right,” she grinned.

Later, she asked a question to the class and to my surprise it seems that everyone knows the fact.

“So who funded the Taliban at the first place?” she asked us.

“The CIA!” an American boy answered it.

So our class ended after that question. Everyone seems to be happy with that conclusion.

Even though our teacher refused to say that CIA was behind the Taliban, each one of us knows the fact. The fact that everything happens in this world is not what it seems to be in the media.

Hanis Noor
ISMA Activist

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Cost-Effective, Supporters Contingent PON Choose Boarding House

Some supporters contingent PON XIX/2016 from outside West Java choose to find boarding house as a place to stay to save costs during the stay at Bandung.

“I chose to use a boarding room, very cheap compared than staying in a hotel. For two weeks are 500 thousand,” said Firmansyah, one of the supporters from West Sumatra Balubur when found in the city of Bandung, Sunday (18/9).

He shared some of his friends to get two boarding rooms that will be used to 19 September 2016. According to him, the trick she often did in each championship outside the area.

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The real difference between a Muslim and a “Kafir”

Abu Ameen

(ISMA Activist)

This section is a continuation from the previous article and summarizes the second chapter from Abu A’la Maududi’s rahimahullah (rh) book entitled “Fundamentals of Islam”. This part is probably the first of the few chapters that serves as the main foundation in his explanation on this topic and attempts to answer a very rudimentary question to Muslims and non-Muslims alike – why is there so much difference between a Muslim and a “Kafir”? One key point that he kept stressing is that the answer to this question should be answered cool-mindedly and not be looked from a provocative perspective. We should strive to do the same.

A non-believer is as much an offspring of prophet Adam (pbuh) as Muslims are. They breath the same air, drink the same water and inhabit the same land as Muslims do. Allah created them as Allah created Muslim. Why then, in the day of the Hereafter Allah promised the true believers Paradise and the non-believers Hellfire? Why is Allah the Most Just and Most Merciful makes a distinct treatment in the Hereafter for these two groups of people?

This is the main point that must be pondered and reflected deeply. Allah the Almighty is not cruel to discriminate between all human beings on petty grounds such as bearing different names, eating “non-halal” foods or whether one person is circumcised or not. Allah the Most Beneficent is far from such unjust attributes. The answer to this question is actually simple yet it has always been taken for granted.

The meaning of Islam is obedience to Allah while the opposite of Islam that is “Kufr” is disobedience to Allah.  A true Muslim recognizes his Master, obey His orders and fears the consequence of disobeying Him. However, a non-Muslim falls from Allah’s grace because the person does not recognize Allah as the One True God and does not carry out Allah’s instruction on this earth. It is only through this distinction that Allah promises the reward of heaven to Muslims and warns the unbelievers the threats of hellfire. Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) was born in the home of an idolator but he came to know of Allah and worshipped Him. Prophet Noah (pbuh) son was born in a prophet’s home but he did not understand God and disobeyed Him.

Thus, the main difference in the sight of Allah between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is in relation to the person’s knowledge and deeds. The reward that a Muslim will get in the Hereafter is proportionate to the degree of the Muslim’s conviction and deeds on this face of this earth.

Therefore, if the knowledge and deeds of a person who claims himself or herself as a Muslim is similar to those who disobey Allah, the person should really check where his or her faith really lies.

Abu A’la Maududi rahimahullah made it clear in this chapter, “A Kafir does not read the Quran and does not know what is written therein. If similar is a condition of a Muslim, why should he be called a Muslim? A Kafir does not know the teaching of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and what straight path the prophet has shown to reach Allah. If a Muslim is equally ignorant of this, how is he considered a Muslim? A Kafir follow his own desire instead of following the command of God. If a Muslim too like him is headstrong and unbridled and a follower of his own ideas or opinion, indifferent to God and is a slave of lust then what right does he to call himself an obedient slave of Allah? A Kafir does not need to discriminate between Halal and Haram and takes to anything that to him is beneficial and full of relish, no matter whether it is Halal or Haram in the sight of Allah. If a Muslim behavior is the same as that of a non-Muslim, what difference is there between him and a Kafir?”

This is a point that requires a deep reflection by us as Muslims. The condition of our ummah today suggests that we’ve neglected our duty as Muslims and there is only a slight difference between non-Muslims and us. If we continue this path, we can’t entitle ourselves as true Muslim. In fact, the opposite is probably true (we seek refuge from Allah for such thing) since we already know that the Quran is the word of Allah yet we treat it similar as a non-Muslim does. We know Allah cursed liars, those who believes in shamans and khurafat, taking and giving bribes, declare war against interest and usury, warned against backbiting, obscenity and lewdness yet despite of knowing all these we continue to be indulged in these vices as if there is absolutely no fear of Allah.

This again goes back to the first part of the series that was published last month that is the importance of true knowledge for being a Muslim. It is thus important that we continue to strive and learn about the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Muslims need to appreciate the great loss we’re experiencing by remaining ignorant on the Islamic teachings. The book of God is with us yet we’re moving away from Allah’s teaching. Allah demands the Muslim to put the ummah unity as a priority yet we instead prefer to put that aside and make our political pact as more important.

We know the pain of losing badminton or when our favorite football team loses in the final tournament. We know the loss and suffering due to being a lower income nation with high cost of living. Yet we do not know the loss of being unaware of Islam’s teaching, acknowledging and submitting that Allah is the One True God and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the Last Messenger.

Can there be a greater loss than this?

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Fundamentals of Islam – Points to Ponder

The third chapter in Maududi’s rahimahullah book entitled “Fundamentals of Islam” described the core problem of the Muslim ummah in a very interesting manner.  There are Muslims who does not understand and reflect on Al-Quran’s messages yet would only resort to the Holy Book for utility purposes. They use certain verses of the Al-Quran for trivial and frivolous matters as scaring away demons and ghosts, hang certain verses on the wall for protection or to find missing objects with magical binocular while sitting on flying carpet are just mocking Islam itself.

Such act is similar to a sick person who visited a doctor to get a medical prescription. Instead of getting the medicine by following up with a pharmacist who understands what the sick person needs from the prescription, the person instead used the piece of paper literally for medical purposes by hanging around the neck or by soaking the paper in water and drink it. Another way to look at it is if we received a letter in a weird language from a long lost family member. What would we do to demonstrate our love for the person? We would work hard to get the letter translated to understand the message our beloved family wants to convey to us.

Unfortunately, Muslims do not treat Al-Quran’s message the same way. Al-Quran has been sent by the Supreme Healer to cure human moral diseases. Muslims however treat it like any other book on earth. Sometimes they only scan through the Quran to look for a particular verse that fits his or her ideals. They do not entirely follow the directions and abstain from what has been laid in the Al-Quran. Muslims do not consult the Al-Quran to understand what should be our beliefs, what should be our deeds, how should we conduct transactions, what law should we follow in contracting friendship and making enmity, where our loyalty lies, what are the rights as a human being and as a Muslim, what is truth and what is falsehood, who should we obey and disobey, with whom should we maintain relationship and with whom not, who is our friend and who is our enemy, what will benefit us and what will disgrace us.

Apparently Muslims have given up on understanding Al-Quran in a comprehensive manner. Instead, Muslims follow their own whims and desires interpreting certain verses in the Al-Quran for their own political and manipulative agenda. Making things worse, some Muslims seek advice from misguided and selfish non-believers ideologies that has no interest in upholding Islamic legislation and practice altogether. They follow these ideologies blindly and idolized the success by making reference to the so-called developed nations adhering to such ideology. These same Muslims merely scan through Al-Quran and dare claim being Islamic by just quoting few verses to reflect their high Islamic index value. It is thus ironic that the greatest possible injustice committed against Al-Quran’s message are committed by the very people that asserted they have faith in it and ready to sacrifice their life on it. These Muslims are slowly but surely imitating Bani Israel step by step.

Bani Israel was honored with the Torah and Injeel, however they did injustice to these Books of Allah and saw its consequences.

“…And they were covered with humiliation and misery, and they drew on themselves the Wrath of Allah. That was because they used to disbelieve the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah and killed the Prophets wrongfully. That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress the bounds (in their disobedience to Allah, i.e. commit crimes and sins).” – Al-Baqarah: 61.

True Muslims should learn and know who is called a Muslim and what is the meaning being a Muslim. He or she should know what differences takes place when the person becomes a Muslim, what distinguishes a Muslim and a non-Muslim, the responsibility as a Muslim and the limits to remain as a Muslim. To do that, it is thus essential to follow the true teaching of the Al-Quran and Prophet Muhammad pbuh tradition in every way. Muslims must hold back their personal wisdom, worldly customs and political leaders or top scholars views and wholly entrust every matter in accordance to God’s book and the saying of the Prophet. This act of total entrustment and submission to Allah is what one defines as Muslim.

How can a person consider himself a true Muslim if the person does not depend on the Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh)? How does a person can claim that he or she is a devout Muslim when the person comes to know specific instruction of the Al-Quran and Sunnah yet reacts by saying, “this does not appeal to my intellect” or “my tribe or party have been following a different course so I will not follow” or “everyone in the world is moving the opposite way, so why should I conform?” or “such holy person or this particular leader taught me this”. Anyone still claiming to be a Muslim but still giving these excuses is actually deceiving himself and others too.

It is a contradiction to call oneself a Muslim on the one hand and on the other give preference to personal opinion or tribal practice over and above the Al-Quran and As-Sunnah. The Muslims must be within the bound of Islam by adhering to the word of God and His Messenger’s Sunnah as the ultimate criterion of truth and justice. Everything opposed to Allah and His Messenger is false and transgressing the limits of Islam.

“Verily, We did send down the Tarot (Torah) [to Musa (Moses)], therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah’s Will, judged the Jews. And the rabbis and the priests [too judged the Jews by the Taurat (Torah) after those Prophets] for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah’s Book, and they were witnesses thereto. Therefore fear not men but fear Me (O Jews) and sell not My Verses for a miserable price. And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the Kafirun (i.e. disbelievers – of a lesser degree as they do not act on Allah’s Laws).” Al-Maidah: 44.

Wallahua’lam.

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Islam improved my life as a woman

DIANA Beatty, or Masooma Amtullah, is in Colorado. She had a bad stereotype images of Muslims. But when she came into contact with Muslims and began reading Qur’an, she says, she completely changed.

I am a 23-year-old college student, studying physics and training to become a teacher. I am a native of Colorado, US. I converted nearly three years ago now.

My father and brother are electricians. I have only one sibling, my brother, who is 27 and is married with two young children. My mother is a legal secretary for the county attorney’s office. My father is an alcoholic and smokes a lot and his habits make the household very stressful and unhappy at times because he tends to be very selfish and angry.

My mother is bitter about him often and lives in a loveless marriage, I think. But to most appearances they are an ideal family. They keep dogs at the house, and that along with the alcohol makes visiting difficult but I try to go when I can.

In college I met a Muslim for the first time. Only after meeting some Muslims did I slowly come to realize how ignorant I was about Islam and Muslims; a lot of what I had learned growing up was quite erroneous, but for the most part I just never heard anything at all about it.

I became curious about the religion because the good manners of the Muslims I met appealed to me, as well as the sincerity and worship aspect of the Muslim prayer. The idea of a religion which guided us in every aspect of life was something I had been looking for. I was raised Christian and at the time of meeting the Muslims was quite religious and studying the bible seriously. But the questions the Bible left unanswered for me, the Qur’an answered.

At first I did not like to read Qur’an, but the Muslims I knew, I took them as my example of what a Muslim is like and saw that the stereotype I had been raised with just didn’t fit. I wondered how I knew Bible was right and Qur’an was wrong, especially when so much was similar between them, they seemed to originate from the same source.

I could not believe my Bible study teacher when he said something very negative about Qur’an. Nor could I believe that these Muslims who were in general far more religious and worshipping of God than the Christians would go to hell for sure, as I was taught.

As I continued my study, I was able to read the Bible in a new light and see contradictions and even errors and scientific fallacies that before I had dismissed as due to my failure to understand the Word of God. But these errors and contradictions were absent in Qur’an.

And what Qur’an said about God and our purpose and all these things I found more logical and easier to understand, and I knew that I believed God would provide us with a religion that we could understand and that was fair.

It was a difficult time but over a period of several months I studied the two religions and Islam won out, I became convinced that it was the true religion that Allah had sent for us and so I reverted. At that time I still was not sure about everything, I still was not sure about hijab in particular, and I did not know anything like how to pray etc. but in time I started to learn.

It was very difficult to conclude that everyone I had ever known, my teachers, my parents, my grandparents, my friends, my preachers, were all wrong. It was hard to decide to go against my family and do something I knew they would hate and would not understand.

I was terrified to make the wrong choice, but Christianity teaches if you do not believe Jesus (peace be upon him) died for your sins then you go to hell, so I was afraid of being misled. I was afraid that my peers and coworkers and bosses would react negatively and even that I might be disowned from my family.

My mother complained about my Islamic dress, that seems to bother them more than anything, and she will send Christian religious literature to me, etc. When I first put on hijab she cried for literally a week and was so hurt, she wrote me a letter saying it was a slap in the face and I was abandoning how they raised me and trying to be an Arab.

They convinced themselves that I was doing it only for my Muslim husband (I ended up marrying a Muslim man) and so they didn’t like him and wished for our relationship to end. I was told by family members that I was going to hell. It was not hard to give up the non-halal food, the alcohol, to start praying, to wear hijab (after some initial difficulty), the only thing that was really hard was hurting my family and being constantly pushed by them.

In this process, I did lose a few who just could not handle the change but most of my friends did not really mind. Nor did I have any problem obtaining multiple jobs of my choice in hijab. I am generally not discriminated against at all on the college campus, although you do have to get used to stares and a more formal relationship with coworkers. I find most respect me a great deal for doing what I believe. It is only my family who has a great difficulty, because it is their daughter. Well, and men never know what to think when I decline to shake their hand.

It is difficult to describe to someone who has never felt it how Islam can change and improve one’s life. But Islam changed me totally.

I have no doubt about our purpose in this world and that I am following the right path, I have a certainty I never knew before, and peace that goes with it. God’s plan makes much more sense to me and I feel I have an idea where I belong.

Plus, through Islam, it is rarely an ambiguous question if something is right or wrong, unlike my Christian friends who often doubt if they are doing the right thing. I finally have a hold on the things that really matter and am not lost anymore. I didn’t even really know I was lost before, but when I found Islam and looked back it was so clear to me that I had been searching for years.

Alhamdolillah, I was guided. Islam also improved my life as a woman in that I find good Muslim men treat women with so much more respect than is found in American society that I am raised in. I feel special to be a woman.

As a woman I earlier found myself faced with incredible responsibility of working full time and raising a family and cooking and cleaning and never fitting in fully to any of those roles. As a Muslim woman I feel freer to look at myself and choose the path which truly suits my nature and have others accept that, and I feel like a woman and it feels good; like coming home. Reverting to Islam feels like coming home.

This article was first published in islam4theworld.net

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The power of Duaa

The power of Duaa

By Amal Al-Sibai

WE all have a powerful tool in our hands to help us get through the difficult times, to find relief after suffering, and to attain what we strongly desire; and that tool is duaa.

Making duaa is turning to Allah with complete trust that Allah hears our prayers; it is supplicating with sincerity, an earnest desire, and reliance on Allah. Your duaa will be answered, as long as it is coupled with action, but also patience. You do your part. You study hard for that exam, then you wake up after midnight and you make sincere duaa to Allah, and rest assured that you will score an excellent grade on that exam!

Muslims are encouraged to constantly make duaa to Allah. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) placed so much importance on supplication that he said, “Duaa is the essence of ibadah (worship).” (Reported in At-Tirmidhi and Ahmad)

Duaa is actually a form of worship.

The following verse in the Holy Qur’an is a reminder from our Lord that we should constantly turn to Allah, to make duaa.

{And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad ) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright.} (Chapter 2, verse 186)

Many of us have neglected this form of worship. Others may become hasty and impatient when their duaa is not answered immediately.

Have you experienced times in your life when you feel stuck, when you feel that your duaa has not been answered? You must persist and you must never underestimate the power of duaa.

Maybe your duaa will be answered at a later time, maybe Allah has chosen something better for you than what you asked for. Sometimes, Allah withholds what you want, and instead saves the rewards for you in the Hereafter.

There are certain blessed times of the day, special times of the week and the year, and there are also sacred places that can multiply the power of your duaa ten-fold. Make sure you know these special times, and seize the opportunity to ask Allah for what you want because these are times of acceptance.

The last third of the night. This is like the golden time of the day to ask Allah for forgiveness, Paradise, and whatever it is you need in this world. In an authentic Hadith which has been reported in several books, including Sahih Al-Bukhari, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Our Lord (glorified and exalted be He) descends each night to the earth’s sky when there remains the final third of the night, and He says: ‘Who is saying a prayer to Me that I may answer it? Who is asking something of Me that I may give it him? Who is asking forgiveness of Me that I may forgive him?’” Prayers made late at night, while others are either asleep or busy with worldly distractions like watching TV, are accepted by Allah.
When hearing the call to prayer. The time between the call to prayer and the commencement of the prayer is a blessed time. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “A supplication made between adhan and iqama is not rejected.” (Reported in Ahmad, Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi)
A special time on Fridays. Friday is a special day in the life of a Muslim, and in it there is a blessed time when duaa is answered. The Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned that every Friday there is a period of time when believers can make duaa, and their duaa will be granted. Some scholars have said that it is the time from the beginning of the Friday sermon until the end of the Friday prayer; others have said that it is between Asr (afternoon) prayer and Maghreb (sunset) prayer.
In prostration (sujood). As you kneel in prayer, head on the ground, praise your Lord and ask for the good of this world and the next. It is the nearest that a worshiper can come to Allah, so make duaa fervently and your supplication will be answered.
In the last part of your obligatory prayer. When sitting down, just before ending your prayer, do not forget to make duaa.
During rainfall. As the sky pours, let your tears pour and make duaa. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “Two will not be rejected, supplication when the adhan (call to prayer) is being called, and at the time of rain.”
When hearing the crowing of a rooster. This Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is authentic: “When you hear the crowing of a rooster, ask Allah of His bounty, for it has seen an angel.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
When drinking zamzam water. The supplication you make when drinking zamzam will be accepted. It is recommended that you make this supplication when drinking zamzam, “O Allah, I seek beneficial knowledge, wide sustenance, and cure from all ailments.”
Ramadan. The month of fasting is also the month of forgiveness, mercy, and protection from the Hellfire. Muslims during Ramadan should be in a constant state of worship, duaa, prayer, giving, serving others, and recitation of the Holy Quran.
The Night of Decree, Laylatul Qadr. This night is the greatest night of the year. Allah has said about it, {The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months.}(Chapter 97, verse 3). On this night, Allah gives to those who ask Him, bounties of rewards, forgiveness, mercy, and acceptance of their duaa. It is one of the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan.
The day of Arafat. Whether you are performing the pilgrimage or are at home, do not let the day of Arafat go by without making supplication. From the noon prayer (Dhuhr) until sunset (Maghreb), dedicate your time to seeking forgiveness from Allah, making duaa, and asking for the highest rank in Paradise. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The best supplication is the supplication on the day of Arafat.” (Reported in At-Tirmidhi)
During travel. The traveler’s supplication will be answered by Allah.
When the fasting believer breaks his/her fast. The duaa you make at the moment you break your fast when hearing the call of Maghreb prayer will be accepted by Allah.
Duaa of the one who has been oppressed and unjustly treated. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said to his companions, “Fear the prayer of the one who has been wronged, for there is no barrier between it and Allah.” (Al-Bukhari)
At a gathering for the purpose of remembering Allah. If you attend a halaqah or a lecture to gain knowledge about Islam, or a study session of the Holy Qur’an, the duaa that the student or the lecturer make will be accepted by Allah.
This beautiful Hadith shows some of the benefits of attending such learning circles. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “If a group of people sit together remembering Allah, the angels will circle them, mercy will shroud them, peace will descend onto them and Allah will remember them among those with Him.” (Muslim)If you have not already been calling upon Allah in duaa, try it because it works!
I would love to hear of short stories from the lives of our readers when they sincerely made duaa to Allah, and their duaa was accepted. Please post them in the comments box.

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